Africans love reliable old landies

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easye1

easye1

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was reading through a top gear story about reliability and came across a reply about why old is good in Africa


Kan Robi Michał Sikora • a month ago −
In Africa there is a reason we loved the Series 2/3 Landrovers, Peugeot 504's, Fiat Trucks of the 60's, Leylands and Bedfords. All those years later, they are still working! and there are mechanics who can fix them!! Toyota seems to have taken over, but they dont last as long :-(


will get the TG link....
http://www.topgear.com/uk/jeremy-clarkson/Jeremy-on-durable-cars-2013-01-07
 
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I've liked a couple of LR pages on Facebook that people share pics on. There's pockets of LR enthusiasm all over the world - there seams to be a lot of LR fans in Indonesia for some reason!
 
Before a car goes on sale to the general public, its manufacturer performs many tests. Examples are driven in slow motion into walls and other obstacles to make sure they are safe. Doors are opened and closed thousands of times to ensure they won't fall off*. And engines are tested in the vast heat of Arizona as well as the frozen wasteland of an Arctic winter.

*Excluding Freelanders! :p

Tom
 
I went to a supper evening organised by our MP, Douglas Carswell.
the food was basic home cooked onsite curry, but went with my daughter to meet people and listen to our MP bash his masters of this countries front men..
we chose to sit at a table for 6 that was occupied by just 2, an older guy and a thai women, his wife. we were then joined by a large older guy who was not your obvious working type.
we sat and chatted and the guy I sat next to told me he was 86 years old , an author, and we shared some landrover jokes.
he told me he was a keen bird watcher and author and combined that by going to somewhere in africa to research some facts for a book, so he sent his then new series landrover over by ship for his transport on arrival.
told me stories of getting stuck in mud and swamps but always getting towed out eventually, but most importantly always found someone to fix his drowned landie.

true stories told by much older people seem to stick in ones mind better than film scenes and myths.
my daughter chatted to his 72 year old wife who still works as a government translator, has a busy workload, and was on an early start in london the next day, but told of landies and (shush) jeeps at home in thailand years ago..

I wonder where a landrover badge has never been seen ?

oh, the big other guy was an ex airforce pilot, lives in a stately "pile", and owns a local Island near us that has a tidal causeway road, and uses an "old" landrover to get there... (could have been 2 years old but I never asked)
 
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LRD90tdi said:
Before a car goes on sale to the general public, its manufacturer performs many tests. Examples are driven in slow motion into walls and other obstacles to make sure they are safe. Doors are opened and closed thousands of times to ensure they won't fall off*. And engines are tested in the vast heat of Arizona as well as the frozen wasteland of an Arctic winter.

*Excluding Freelanders! :p

Tom
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that made me smile when I first read it, but left that to others to point out ;)
 
My Series III SSW was manufactured in Solihul, assembled in Australia, sold new to Venezuela and now lives in New Zealand. If it could speak, I'm sure it could tell a few stories!
 
You would not believe the age, state and the roles some of these old landys play in Africa. Most older series and defenders have been converted to tow vehicles and water tankers, hauling around three times the weight the vehicle was originally designed to handle. They are basically very simple vehicles that have been made even more easy to work with through extensive modifications by the locals. I once saw an old series 2 that had been retrofitted with a plate on the intake manifold that allowed the owner to quickly swap carburetors. He had a small morris minor carb he used to shuttle around town when his business was running slow so the engine would run lean on petrol and save him fuel, and a slightly larger one from an unknown vehicle he would install when he had to haul water and required more power out of that old engine.
Funny thing is, with all the roles the older vehicles play, I have often had some people assume that my relatively newer discovery is not half as tough as theirs with no dashboards and bare metal interiors.
I'll endeavor to attach lots of photos to show you what I mean next time I'm there.
Cheers guys.;)
 
Lots of landy doors and bonnets get made into cooking pots and pans. Long time ago someone put you a video of a pot maker doing just that, was very interesting on how he did it
 
I wonder if in 40 years time we will be able to watch films of old Toyotas still in every day use.
 
Sheffield said:
I wonder if in 40 years time we will be able to watch films of old Toyotas still in every day use.
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You can, look up Toyota FJ45 or just old FJ, it was launched in 1953 and went out of production in 1983, combining the look of a LR and the running gear of 1950s Chevrolet pick ups, even the 4.0 straight six was an exact copy of the Chevrolet 4.0 engine.
I had a 1974 one I imported from Australia last year, it was tough a nails. The new Toyotas........hmmm, ****e
 
MrNasty said:
You can, look up Toyota FJ45 or just old FJ, it was launched in 1953 and went out of production in 1983, combining the look of a LR and the running gear of 1950s Chevrolet pick ups, even the 4.0 straight six was an exact copy of the Chevrolet 4.0 engine.
I had a 1974 one I imported from Australia last year, it was tough a nails. The new Toyotas........hmmm, ****e
Click to expand...

Because they were chevy motors
 
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