Why Land Rover?

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finallysnapped

finallysnapped

Well-Known Member
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East Lothian
Obviously to most if not all of you the Land Rover is more than just another motor, so what started your passion or sparked your interest in them?

For me it was probably the stories my dad used to tell me about when he worked in the Algeria and they would go out into the desert and play tug of war with 4x'4's, he said the Land Rover used to just pull everything else right out of the sand.

The first one I was in a Discovery we had a loan of in 1997, we had it because labour won the election and the owner was our MP. I got woke up about 7 in the morning the day after the election hearing people downstairs, and it was our MP asking my dad for a lift to the airport so he could go to the finally getting into government party. So we had his disco for a few days and I had to go take all the election stickers and all that off it, then one day we went a run in the country and I fell in love with the green oval.
 
Been around Land Rovers all my life since I was Born. Dad had Series ones then Range Rover and Defenders. Just love them and couldnt be without one.

Learned to drive in a Defender and spent most of my life in them and always will.

scan0001.jpg
 
I got my first Discovery last year at the ripe old age of 42 after going out to for some green laning in my mates 200.

Loved it and only sold it as it was a V8, but now have a muddy 300Tdi and love it.

I think I will always have a Discovery in my life now. :)
 
Off road ability + easy to work on/fix + cheapish parts and servicing + not too complicated (Disco 1 300TDi manual) + easy availability of modification bits + 3.5t towing weight.

The only other vehicle which comes close, is the Merc G Wagen but I can't afford one of them. And if I saved up for one and got it, I'd be too worried about damaging it + massive parts costs, if I took it off road "enthusiastically".
 
For me its the fact that you get to fix the thing (300tdi) then drive her to/from work to actually see the fruits of your labours, then fix it some more and so on. Its a big toy really, not counting the money drain, i think its like a massive Meccano kit - bits drop off - you bolt'em back on.

On top of that you have the 'go anywhere' feeling that Landys give you, massive towing capacity, pretty good comfort levels, loads of space in the cab, legroom, headroom, i love my disco.

I feel much more relaxed driving to/from work in the landy than i do in the mondeo, its all in the rightplace - the cubby box elbow rest for the gearstick arm, the door handle elbow rest for the right arm, it just feels good.

Now to find one that has no rust...:doh:
 
All of above its what you make of it,leave it standard or mod to your needs and budget.And do it all,tow cattle am,pick up a sheep in the field andtake to the vet,pick up the kids,tow a stranded mate home and go out in the evening.All in adays work for LR.And it makes me :)
 
I've loved then since I was born. I've always loved engineering and mechanics. I love the feeling of power you get. My dad always wanted a 4x4 so he got a new shogun when I was about 12 (that's gone now). My grandma had an original freelander and that year when I was about 8 we went to the landrover show. The tomb raider defender was there and I think that helped cement the defender as my favourite land rover. The freelander was swapped for an xtrail but next time my grandad came to buy I car I insisted it was a new disco. Top gear helped persuade him and I won my case and he got a disco 3. When I got to 15 I started looking for my first car and after getting £3000 insurance quotes for corsas and clios I thought I'd be sarcastic and ask for a quote for my favourite car. To my surprise it came back at £1500. I pursued the idea and found that a defender was actually a serious choice as a first car. My grandad always talked about taking the disco off road but there was no way my grandma would let that happen so I told him I wanted a defender as my first car and he went "get some research done". I located a defender after about 3 months of research and my grandad bought it for off roading with the intention of me buying it off of him when I pass my test. Only a few months to go before I can take it on road for a change...
 
Although being around them and using them alot in the Army i thought of them as a tool rather than anything else, but the moment i realised i really wanted one was about 4 years ago in a Tesco's car park of all sorts.

Every fooker and their family were trying to park, it was wet, miserable and a week before xmas so the place was jammed. We sat there for a good 10-15minutes waiting for the queue into the huge car park to move along when a guy in a 90 a few cars in front took a right turn up the grass verge placed there to look pretty and parked on top of it, got out and went shopping.

I looked at the missus and said, i gotta get one of them, and that was that.

Now i just see it as a huge toy and tool for my work, nothing on it is not fixable by myself ( welding a new rear x member should be fun! ) and i can dent it, scratch it, polish it, paint it and it still feels like a great vehicle to me and always will.
 
Last edited:
PaulWilde said:
Although being around them and using them alot in the Army i thought of them as a tool rather than anything else, but the moment i realised i really wanted one was about 4 years ago in a Tesco's car park of all sorts.

Every fooker and their family were trying to park, it was wet, miserable and a week before xmas so the place was jammed. We sat there for a good 10-15minutes waiting for the queue into the huge car park to move along when a guy in a 90 a few cars in front took a right turn up the grass verge placed there to look pretty and parked on top of it, got out and went shopping.

I looked at the missus and said, i gotta get one of them, and that was that.
Click to expand...



he sounds like my kinda guy :hysterically_laughi
 
When i was born we had the Series 3 (Now mine :)), a few years later my dad bought a 300TDi Disco ES and i now have a 110 (As my first car :cool:)

There fantastic to drive, loverly to work on and with, cheap parts oh and a fantastic community (Where else could i get a decent engine for my 110 for nowt? :))
 
About 6 years ago while on holiday in Cyprus, we went on this "4x4 Safari" excursion. Basically, we were driven around the island in a convoy of Defender 110's. Ever since then I've had a great interest in 4x4s.

Here's a video showing what they do:
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o37cVtC2oZQ"]YouTube - The Ultimate Cyprus Safari Experience[/nomedia]


If you ever go to Cyprus, I'd definitely recommend it even though it's not exactly hardcore stuff.
 
got my first 110 as it was the only vehicle (other than a minibus- and that was too embarrassing ) that could fit in all the kids, two pushchairs and a sainsburys weeky shop .

now have carried on and Im onto number 3 just because I love it and nothing comes even close :)
 
In Switzerland, if you buy a Landy the Army gives you 50% of the purchase price, provided a) it's painted green b ) you install rifle racks c) if there is a major fkcup with the Reds, they get to play with it. So, all the farmers had Landies to tow their hay trailers, and every uncle I had had at least one Landy. First car I drove.

Now, in real life, I have them 'cuz I need them. Pieces of rattling, leaking, ill-fitting, unreliable ****e, but they're still the best mousetrap in the deep bush - short of a Unimog.

And they cost half the price of a Toyota. And parts are cheap. And you can take them apart with a swiss-army knife. And they keep you busy when you're back home. And, and...
 
Landrovers for some reason remind me of my generations favourite toy ,Meccano ! i had the lot in the seventies ,for any younger guys on here , look Meccano up on google you dont know what you missed out on .
 
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