GrumpyGel
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 25,224
- Location
- Christchurch, New Zealand
Hi All,
I've been interested in LRs since my brother started working for them - just before the Discovery launch - lived in the UK then. Malc used to bring home all sorts of vehicles (still does) but dad was the first to purchase one - an old RR Classic which we used for green laneing and taking to various 'off road' courses.
I got a 95 D1 TDI about 14 years ago which saw me good all round the UK and frequent travels round Europe. Then moved to Christchurch 10 years ago and, seduced by cheap petrol, bought a 94 D1 V8. That went to a lot more interesting places than my TDI!
3 years ago swapped that for a 99 Freelander XEDI. It hasn't been to so many hard to reach places as the D1, but we'll still take it 'down the river' and is more capable on the beach than the D1. It also put in great service after the quakes here in Christchurch when me and my mates jumped in it armed with shovels and barrow to help dig peoples houses out of the liquefaction silt. In fact some of the tarmac conditions at that time were more 'severe' than the places our D1 saw! It has towed at least 1.5 ton of building material for my house, and towed the boat, huge tent, all the camping gear and the family on our holidays. Been a great car (if a tad boring after the discos) up until recently when it was crippled dramatically - by an underinflated tyre!
The most recent addition to the family is a 72 SIII Safari Station Wagon that was assembled in Aus. According to the factory documentation it was shipped new to Venezuela and has somehow found its way to here in New Zealand. It must have had some great journeys in its time! I bought it in a non-road going condition and will be stoked when it gets its certification to be back on the road.
I normally 'hang out' at NZLANDROVEROwners : New Zealand Land Rover Owners Club. forum. There's some hugely knowledgable and friendly guys there who could rebuild their Series, coiled or Disco trucks blindfolded - but Freelanders, well, "yeh - nah".
Gerald
I've been interested in LRs since my brother started working for them - just before the Discovery launch - lived in the UK then. Malc used to bring home all sorts of vehicles (still does) but dad was the first to purchase one - an old RR Classic which we used for green laneing and taking to various 'off road' courses.
I got a 95 D1 TDI about 14 years ago which saw me good all round the UK and frequent travels round Europe. Then moved to Christchurch 10 years ago and, seduced by cheap petrol, bought a 94 D1 V8. That went to a lot more interesting places than my TDI!
3 years ago swapped that for a 99 Freelander XEDI. It hasn't been to so many hard to reach places as the D1, but we'll still take it 'down the river' and is more capable on the beach than the D1. It also put in great service after the quakes here in Christchurch when me and my mates jumped in it armed with shovels and barrow to help dig peoples houses out of the liquefaction silt. In fact some of the tarmac conditions at that time were more 'severe' than the places our D1 saw! It has towed at least 1.5 ton of building material for my house, and towed the boat, huge tent, all the camping gear and the family on our holidays. Been a great car (if a tad boring after the discos) up until recently when it was crippled dramatically - by an underinflated tyre!
The most recent addition to the family is a 72 SIII Safari Station Wagon that was assembled in Aus. According to the factory documentation it was shipped new to Venezuela and has somehow found its way to here in New Zealand. It must have had some great journeys in its time! I bought it in a non-road going condition and will be stoked when it gets its certification to be back on the road.
I normally 'hang out' at NZLANDROVEROwners : New Zealand Land Rover Owners Club. forum. There's some hugely knowledgable and friendly guys there who could rebuild their Series, coiled or Disco trucks blindfolded - but Freelanders, well, "yeh - nah".
Gerald
