Classic landrover magazine

Has anyone any thoughts on the Classic Landrover magazine ? I have a sub to LRO wich is great for my Disco 1 but i am in the market for a series Landy and wondered if it really was relevant. Used to have series before and regretted selling them as they are IMHO a far better and enjoyable job. Thanks in advance.

I really like the Classic magazine as pretty much everything in it is relevant to my S2 SW.

Thanks for that, i thought it must have a fair amount of relevance but wanted to know for sure before i chance a subscription. The only thing that worried me was the inclusion of Rangies and early defenders as they are done to death elsewhere. LRO has in my opinion treated the old girls a little shoddily of late, i get the feeling that they assume everyone has a few grand to spare on kit and so on so looking for something a little more real.

I've been a CLR subscriber from the off. Really enjoy it. I was sick of all the expensive bolt on bollocks endlessly whored in LRO etc. They are more adverts that content and not relevant for my interests.

Rubins4, i have to agree. They showcased a watch recently at 6 grand , i mean whats the relevance of that ? We love camping biking fishing and everything outdoors so i know my kit, some of the overpriced ****e they are recommending beggars belief, for instance a £600 one man tent that rips really easy but comes with a repair kit, WHAT ? I am on the look out for a nice project 2/2a/3 to replace my Disco 1 so i can get back to the real world. I think a subscription Cl is in order. Thanks again.

I have fallen into the magazine trap a few times with other hobbies. They all become very similar. They have to pander to existing or potential advertisers as this is their main income. Magazine sales hardly break even.
Recommending and positively reviewing products becomes mundane and seasonal with the same things churned our time and time again. When was the last time you read an article on a very poor product that they advised you to avoid.
It’s a long time since I picked one up but I presume they are still the same.

Wise words indeed. I shall cancel my sub to LRO and try the classic, if/when that goes the same way i will cancel it and just rely on this forum, at least your dealing with real people in the real world. A fellow Mancunian i see.

Rubins4 said:

I've been a CLR subscriber from the off. Really enjoy it. I was sick of all the expensive bolt on bollocks endlessly whored in LRO etc. They are more adverts that content and not relevant for my interests.

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I used to buy LRO pretty regularly, but as you say, it has gone down the pan - some of the articles are also sh*t - the final straw for me was watching them fit oversills on a 3 door D1 - which would have been bad, but the fact that they left all the rotten sill in place made my blood boil - there wasn't even, IIRC a mention of treating the cavity with anything either !

I will try CLR as this is where my interests are - I certainly have no interest in "pimping my ride"

Disco1BFG said:

I used to buy LRO pretty regularly, but as you say, it has gone down the pan - some of the articles are also sh*t - the final straw for me was watching them fit oversills on a 3 door D1 - which would have been bad, but the fact that they left all the rotten sill in place made my blood boil - there wasn't even, IIRC a mention of treating the cavity with anything either !

I will try CLR as this is where my interests are - I certainly have no interest in "pimping my ride"

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I almost got a job with them and I'm grateful that I missed out.

I used to enjoy it in the 90s and early 2000s but as the aftermarket accessories industry grew and as problems were already solved they ran out of content and you found a lot of stuff simply upcycled periodically. There are no serious tech series to follow like there used to be, I remember some of the builds that spanned several months and had a lot of capital put into them, yes they were done in a warm dry workshop with all the tools over the course of three or maybe four weekends, they were very good and there was at least some fabrication in them too. Now it's just bolt on parts, the latest and greatest must have (insert multi thousand pound item here) and gushing over the antique that stayed in production for over 3 decades.

It is a hard job for them I know as they are struggling to stay current and give the newer models some prime time page time but they are simply never going to be used to their potential, they know it, we know it and the fact remains that vehicles like the P38a still rarely get out green laning and even vehicles like the D3 with their big body panels and even the L322 and L320 sport will never see the muddy puddles (Understandably there will be exceptions but they are miniscule percentiles and certainly not the norm).

I'd love to get a D3 or an RRS and jack it up, set of Trepadors on it, rid of the silly dozer blade bumpers and some custom fab winch bumpers on there, snorkel, roll cage and hit the trail.

Alas the D1 200Tdi will do plenty good enough for me.

A well thought out and written reply which just about says it all, thank you.

I subscribe to both but prefer CLR. LRM has printed this month's copy on newspaper, rather than the usual better quality paper and for this reason I'm cancelling my subscription to them. CLR has become better and better since it started - I just wished they did a column like Norfolk Garage which LRM does as it's nice to eat some tech stuff written by those working on them daily for a living.

I've noticed that CLR have just started branching into the older 90's and 110's too, not a problem for me as they haven't gone down the bolt-on bits/diamond stitched interior route.

I did wonder not so long ago about how much there is to write about in classic before repeating articles or hitting the aftermarket parts stuff as they are in their 5th year now, still going strong however!

I have both and to be honest they both have their ups and downs, there are also only so many interesting series projects out there to keep a rather limited audience happy which is where classic LR currently score for me where as LRO are targeting a wider audience and aiming for a audience with a larger disposable income to whom a 6grand watch or an easy bolt on LED lamp bar are more interesting than knuckle rash trying to change a leaf spring bush ...
One thing i miss is the LRO forum, there was a lot of good engineering information on there for series owners and at the start of my own SIII journey it was really helpful however now i have found the LZ forum the exchange here seems to be just as good.

To sum it up for me :
LRO is gadgets n gizmos, bolt on toys and some nice photos and a wide range of land & range rovers
CLR is interesting stories a lot more series land rovers
Both however have great how to and work shop articles.

on a side note the LRO app crashes on my ipad whereas the CLR does not ..

Simon

dieseldog69 said:

Alas the D1 200Tdi will do plenty good enough for me.

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"Alas" ???? why alas ? D1 200 is a fine vehicle. Our D1 300's are staying for ever - IF we were to replace them, then we would go older not newer. Each time I drive either of them, I am impressed that they are quiet, comfortable, and when driven properly, supremely capable vehicles.

I certainly would like to see some RRS' and such on the greenlane circuit - if for nothing other than comedy purposes - I can see it now - all the Chelsea tractor drivers pondering ..."One wonders if ones "breakdown cover" would cover one in such a circumstance" - I bet you could sell tickets - it'd make a great spectator sport.

Simon Perks said:

I have both and to be honest they both have their ups and downs, there are also only so many interesting series projects out there to keep a rather limited audience happy which is where classic LR currently score for me where as LRO are targeting a wider audience and aiming for a audience with a larger disposable income to whom a 6grand watch or an easy bolt on LED lamp bar are more interesting than knuckle rash trying to change a leaf spring bush ...
One thing i miss is the LRO forum, there was a lot of good engineering information on there for series owners and at the start of my own SIII journey it was really helpful however now i have found the LZ forum the exchange here seems to be just as good.

To sum it up for me :
LRO is gadgets n gizmos, bolt on toys and some nice photos and a wide range of land & range rovers
CLR is interesting stories a lot more series land rovers
Both however have great how to and work shop articles.

on a side note the LRO app crashes on my ipad whereas the CLR does not ..

Simon

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You hit it right on the head there.

I used to get Classic Car every month, after a few years I realised i was reading the same articles, just with slight changes. I think it works like the horoscopes, they just recycle them from one year to the next on an endelss loop. To be honest i don;t blame them, it must be a task creating new content every month.

rob1miles said:

I used to get Classic Car every month, after a few years I realised i was reading the same articles, just with slight changes. I think it works like the horoscopes, they just recycle them from one year to the next on an endelss loop. To be honest i don;t blame them, it must be a task creating new content every month.

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I must admit that I don't envy the content creators but I am always pizzed by the tiny budgets they set for the projects, everything is done in a day and always in BritParts garage/workshops.

The low budgets are killing the content and it is the content that people go there for, they used to feature readers rides a lot but even that has died a death.

No real competition coverage and nothing much in the way of inspiration to get folks into the sport let alone encourage folks to build competition motors.

Shame really as the magazines could really inspire folks and create some great content and even more revenue for the magazine.

I remember purchasing a copy of CLR some years ago, I was drawn to an article highlighted on the front cover, something like "How to rewire your series land rover". Thats got to worth a read I though, I wonder how they will do it, maybe they will have a design for a peg board with dimensions, or could it be something really clever. No, turns out you need to buy a new loom from auto something and fit it. Very informative.

While out getting in supply's today I though I might have a sneaky peak at the other Land Rover magazines, one of them, I assume LRO, was in a transparent bag with a free gift so I picked up a copy of Land Rover Monthly instead. Had a quick peruse, I think you can get an idea of these publication by looking at some of the contributors column inches, apparently motorcyclist cause all the problems on green lanes, no Land Rover has ever caused issues with any other user group, I guess its not really for me.

rob1miles said:

I used to get Classic Car every month, after a few years I realised i was reading the same articles, just with slight changes. I think it works like the horoscopes, they just recycle them from one year to the next on an endelss loop. To be honest i don;t blame them, it must be a task creating new content every month.

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Same thing bought classic car and practical classics...same resto in both a gold sunbeam Alpine...just got practical classics this weekend... article on a Rover 75 coupe never made...built by an enthusiast from drawings using a 75 and BMW bits superb job...and he's 70yrs old...there's hope for me yet I've got 10yrs on him

Citizen Kane said:

I remember purchasing a copy of CLR some years ago, I was drawn to an article highlighted on the front cover, something like "How to rewire your series land rover". Thats got to worth a read I though, I wonder how they will do it, maybe they will have a design for a peg board with dimensions, or could it be something really clever. No, turns out you need to buy a new loom from auto something and fit it. Very informative.

While out getting in supply's today I though I might have a sneaky peak at the other Land Rover magazines, one of them, I assume LRO, was in a transparent bag with a free gift so I picked up a copy of Land Rover Monthly instead. Had a quick peruse, I think you can get an idea of these publication by looking at some of the contributors column inches, apparently motorcyclist cause all the problems on green lanes, no Land Rover has ever caused issues with any other user group, I guess its not really for me.

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Ha ha i know just what you mean, i ride my old honda dommi on the same green lanes and guess what ? I'm to blame for all the damage, makes my blood boil.