Hun, Bite Your Tongue

[JeepSafariDigest]

Had to run to the store this morning and while there we seen this in the parking lot almost parked right beside our jeep..

The owner was no where to be found and the hood mounted spare tire was missing.. This wasn't the first time we've seen this 1960's Land Rover Defender.. But one thing that struck me as odd coming from a JeepGirl.. is that she said "Now that looks like an expedition vehicle" I told her to bite her tongue.. but you know, she's right.. Clearly these land Rovers set the stage for all other off road vehicles..

Doing a bit of reach on these old Land Rovers and find out that Land Rover was supposed to have made their last 60+ years run of these Defenders in 2016.. But It's unclear why the Land Rover pushed back the release date until 2018.. I showed my wife this images of the revamped, history last run:

Surprisingly, My JeepGirl said she likes it.. but for nearly 68K American Dollars.. We probably wouldn't be able to touch this one anytime soon. There was a time when we could have bought a Defender back in 1996, Our old Ford ranger was showing signs of age and we wanted something different.. We drove to the nearest VW dealer where we sat in one of the then current jetta TDI's and right beside the VW dealer was a Land Rover dealer.. at that time.. 36K for a then new Defender was way out ot of our price range.. Looking back.. We could have got that Defender.. and sometimes I wish we had.

 

[PhD_Polymath]

There are a lot of people that share that sentiment of wishing they had bought the North American Spec (NAS) Defenders when they were imported tp the US. Sad that they didn't get to continue importing due to safety regulations, etc. I certainly agree about the "expedition ready" look of these rigs and would love to own one someday (sigh).

 

[ZG]

that was painful

 

[proper4wd]

that was painful

agreed

 

[LR Max]

Also Defenders didn't sell. I've heard of stories of the last 97 defenders being sold off the lots in the early 2000s.

Its surprising that Series 3 has a decent parking brake and hasn't rolled into the lake yet.

 

[tacr2man]

Also Defenders didn't sell. I've heard of stories of the last 97 defenders being sold off the lots in the early 2000s.

Its surprising that Series 3 has a decent parking brake and hasn't rolled into the lake yet.

Why is it surprising , as they were built and supplied with a really efficient transmission handbrake ?

 

[LR Max]

"Efficient" is not how I would describe the handbrake. I believe the better term is "intermittent".

 

[ZG]

IMO one of the better handbrake designs in the industry.

 

[proper4wd]

So long as they aren't soaked in gear oil and poorly adjusted

 

[GREENI]

Im a LR guy, through n through (check my album). That Series will one day, roll in the lake. Because of what 'proper4wd' said.

Yeah, I'm lucky to own a 90 and 110, and have owned nearly 20 others.....but that doesn't say we don't sit on this side of the pond and look longingly at your Jeeps, FJ Cruisers etc etc. and all the kit readily available for them.
I even once bought a Ram 2500 HD Laramie, but they're just too big for the UK.
We also live on a tiny island with very little access to off-road tracks (called green lanes), literally a 0.00002% of what you guys have.

We should organise a holiday 'exchange' programme!!