I've had landrovers for years, restored them, competed off road in them, got lost in them, broken down in them, fixed them with string, towed stuck loaded lorries out of the mud with them and even driven round Europe in them (I was younger back then!) I love them, its my ultimate car, my poster car if you will. And I was lucky to be able to drive my ultimate car in my 20's - most people don't even get to own their ultimate car and maybe I should have bigger aspirations but I'm quite happy. When the going gets tough, there is no other car I'd rather be in. And yes, they have 100's of shortcomings but there is always someone local to wherever you are in the world who knows how to fix it. Parts are cheap and plentiful and there's many that cross over from previous models all the way back to the 60's. They have been honed to perfection for their task over 60+ years and providing you don't modify them, (which most do and it always makes them worse) they do it well.
Unfortunately they were made in the UK and through a time when unions had control and quality was not top of the agenda. And personally I think that's always, and still remains to a certain extent, the problem with Land Rover as a brand. If the Jap's had made it, think how much of a weapon it would have been. But then it would have evolved past where it did and ended up as it is now, far faster.
Land Rover had a problem. The old Defender was still largely hand built (very rare in this day and age) and whilst it sold consistently, it was never top of the charts for sales. And as a car company - that's the aim of the game. Land Rovers now sell to footballers, Directors, private school mums and other wealthy individuals. They don't want our type walking in the posh showroom with muddy boots buying their utility vehicle. But they also cant ditch the Defender all together, its what made them. So what do you do, you make something that sells to your largest target market. I had hoped they would make the Defender a pickup competitor but alas, its become a lesser Discovery. Its an interesting car, plenty of throwback features and design cues and I have no doubt it will go off road as well as the model it replaces. It has to. Its not designed for us and its not priced for us. As Rory says, now the pickups can tow 3.5t, Land Rover have lost their market.
I'll be keeping my 1997 300tdi Defender 90 thanks. By the way, mine did 170k on its original clutch, towing 3.5t regularly. Original engine, turbo, chassis, gearbox, axles, diff etc. IT HAS NEVER NOT GOT ME HOME. (Even when the steering arm fell off, I manged to zip tie and BT rope it back together to get me home). It does 30mpg+ if you drive it sensibly and has gone further off road than any other car bar a Jimney (those things are like mountain goats!) If you look after them, they will do extremely good service. Whats not to like about that?
But just so you know - I now drive a Nissan Navara daily. Lovely to drive, goes off road ok (I do have proper wellies on it mind) doesn't tow as well as the Defender and there is no way it will still be standing strong after 22 years - its drivetrain just isn't beefy enough. But it will do me 5 years good service, all covered by warranty and is a nice place to be driving to and from sites. The Defender is on my driveway, appreciating in value and ready to step in if the Navara breaks down (which it has once so far in a year). If it came to it, I would sell the Navara and keep the Defender. But when it comes to replacing the Navara, I wont be getting a new Defender. It will be another pickup.
.. is it a workhorse? In reality not at the moment. But let's see I've a feeling it could turn it something quite different... remember the aggro over the disco reincarnations? Now folk swear by em..
it’s scary. When the car sales start moving again there might be a few surprises
