For many years, while in the military, I was required to drive a Land Rover Defender. Usually a short wheel based version – the Defender 90, as we should call it, but occasionally a Defender 110 – the long wheel based version, would be used.
We were accustomed to the idea that the ‘90’ and the ‘110’ referred to the number of inches between the front and rear wheel hubs.
A Defender 120 is available, the Army, for example, use them as ambulances and, I believe, there are fire fighting versions of this on airfields around the World.
Was the ‘Landy’, as they are affectionately known, perfect?
No. Far from it. The military version is devoid of anything that might be referred to as ‘comfort trim’. It was beset with odd mechanical problems like, for example, the gear stick coming off when we were over a hundred miles from base; the remaining stump was used by applying a pair of ‘Mole’ grips to it by the (inverted) passenger when a gear change was required. He dreaded us getting into traffic!
On one expedition the Defender’s engine decided that anything above forty miles per hour was a no-no and expired. We let it cool down, restarted it and drove at just under forty. After a while it decided that this, too, was far too fast and expired. We drove at thirty-five. Then thirty. Twenty-five. At Aust services on the Severn Bridge we called the REME at Chepstow but they were shut for the night.
Slowly, oh, so slowly, we made it back to base where the boss demanded to know where we had been!
Cracked cylinder blocks were not uncommon and sheared half-shafts happened all the time – usually as a result of people trying to pull away in second gear.
Nevertheless, the ‘Landy’ was beloved by all. It was a true ‘Maid of All Work’, a go anywhere, do anything, vehicle. There is nothing in the World that will match a Land Rover Defender.
There are many places that use a ‘Landy’ to rescue all terrain vehicles from rivers, bogs, deserts. Many a SUV and 4x4 has been pulled out of trouble by a basic, standard Defender.
So why am I upset?
Because Land Rover had two other models for us to choose from beside the Defender.
There is the Discovery – known to all as a ‘Disco’, and the ‘Freelander’.
The ‘Disco’ is a four-wheel drive, comfortable version of a Defender. It does not have the same abilities as a Defender and it is heavier. It is still a notable Land Rover marque.
The ‘Freelander’ is… what…? Made by Land Rover. We refer to it as a ‘Sainsbury Farmers’ vehicle. People who have a house in the country but don’t know an Ash tree from a hole in the ground will drive one to the supermarket. They will alight in their green wellington boots, deerstalker hat and Barbour Suits to go and hunt meat in the refrigerated section and harvest wheat in the bakery.
Beyond that I have no clue what a ‘Freelander’ is or does.
The problem arises because there is a top of the range vehicle built by Land Rover. It is called a Range Rover.
It is a magnificent beast. It is designed for off-road use. It will do, pretty much, what a Defender will do but in great comfort, in considerable style and with little fuss.
It does it all with grace and elegance. Is it cheap? No. It certainly is not. Is it reliable? JD Turner says ‘no’ but owners say ‘yes’.
In 1972, the British Trans-Americas Expedition became the first vehicle-based expedition to traverse the Americas from north-to-south, including traversing the roadless Darién Gap. The specially modified Range Rovers used for this expedition are now on display in the British Motor Heritage Trust collection at Gaydon, Warwickshire, England.
There are, then, distinctly different vehicles. There are the ‘Land Rovers’ and then there are the ‘Range Rovers’.
Yet recent observations have shown that the Discovery and the Freelander both sport new looks. Their old appearance has been discarded in an effort by the new owners, Tata and Jaguar-Land Rover, to turn them into mini-Range Rovers. It is devaluing the marque. It is, well, not British, dammit!
Yes, I understand that it is all in the marketing; it is all about money, but there are higher values at stake. British values of tradition and custom are being trampled underfoot in a corporate desire to appease stockholders.
They tell us that there may well be a new Defender out soon that will kow-tow to the EU’s desire to make everything bland and safe.
Heaven only knows what it will look like!
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