Defenders any good for a first car?

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Gotta say I agree with Bump .. excellent first cars ...

Teach you driving .. my wife even though she has a driving license and some experience drove our series once, got out and never drove it again .. she reckoned it wouldn't go either straight or stop when she wanted it too. It did, it had to be straight at least a few times every meander, and so long as you planned the stops, ie write in in triplicate, it would stop. It often wouldn't go again ... but see the next item ...

Teach you basic, intermediate and advanced mechanics, everything from regularly changing filters, gaskets, bulbs and fuses, to replacing chassis, engines, stripping and refurbing engines and complete vehicles .. a veritable smorgasbord of possibilities for learning, not forgetting the possibilities of first aid .. cracked heads when bonnet stays fail, broken shins when jacks fail, down to the inevitable skinned knuckles, plastered finger ends and oil-based skin ailments and conditions.

Minimal toolkits needed for absolute maintenance, hammers, chisels, hammers, angle grinder, welder, hammers, couple of spanners, sockets, hammers, 20 tonne press, plasma cutter, 3d positioning unit for measuring accuracy .. or bit of stretchy, knotted string, both will work as well as each other!

Comedy value is immense. How many vehicles can you wave out the window of, without actually opening the window? Before we replaced the door tops we could do this in the series! It wouldn't have been hard afterwards mind. How often do you open a door to have it (Freelander drivers look away) simply fall off in your hands .. often only one hinge is left on, so it swings round, hits you on the way over and adds (yet more) scratches to the paintwork.

Talking of paintwork, use a roller, stipple brush, mop-head, next door neighbours Afghan hound as the application unit, no-one will notice, they'll be too worried looking at the dents and wondering just how dirty an interior can actually get before disease is imminent.

Mahoosive range of tyres and wheels to pick from, but don't ask what sizes are available, suffice to say (WLM rule of thumb) mahoosive is good, anything under 37" is a poofs choice ...

Simply put, a Landrover is an all round most excellent starter vehicle ... ;)
 
the only honest way that you are likely to get even reasonable insurance is to get an early(ish) series, i bought a defender when i was 17 and sold it again due to quotes of around £4000 coming through however my 2A is now around 400 quid with one years no claims ! however, like has previously been mentioned you are unlikely to get no claims bonus with classic car insurance but you may do if you go through someone like aviva or a major firm

one thing to think about, is that most insurers are just about okay insuring young people on unmodified vehicles so it becomes very tough to get insured on modified ones, especially when they start counting stickers as mod's :confused:

still great cars to drive - on my 5th :D
 
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