RE: Land Rover Defender production ceases
Discussion
final paragraph from Mathew Parris's column today:
"Motoring as a pleasure is dying, a victim not only of jams and traffic lights and motorways that all feel the same, but also of our modern liberation. Owning a car used to be a lifeline to personal independence, but we’re no longer trapped at home. Motor cars as personalities, rescuers, friends, will soon be forgotten. And (oh the horror of the cliché that looms) as that last Land Rover rolled from the production line in Solihull this week, a little bit of me died."
"Motoring as a pleasure is dying, a victim not only of jams and traffic lights and motorways that all feel the same, but also of our modern liberation. Owning a car used to be a lifeline to personal independence, but we’re no longer trapped at home. Motor cars as personalities, rescuers, friends, will soon be forgotten. And (oh the horror of the cliché that looms) as that last Land Rover rolled from the production line in Solihull this week, a little bit of me died."
I'm glad of this, I really hate the Landcover I feel it has traded in on its name for years and has made nothing worthwhile since late 60's. Posh english people buy this to tell everyone they are quirky and posh! R.I.P, R.I.P to you Mr. Matt and your silly tweed hat, this must die along with coal fires and child labour all former great English institutions, sorry to offend on this!
Condi said:
Agree with some of the comments on here, they are iconic, but have been superseded by Jap trucks. Give me a Land Cruiser or HiLux any day if you actually want to go anywhere in it for longer than 20 mins. Almost as capable off road, but 10 times as comfortable.
Same here. If only the a Defender had evolved - simple and utilitarian may have been enough in the '50s but there have been far better alternatives since the '90shidetheelephants said:
DonkeyApple said:
The Heritage Restoration dept is a fantastic idea. Unfortunately, the team of extremely enthusiastic and well meaning chaps have spent the last 12 months checking up on key parts history with the people who have shouted the loudest that they are the leading Land Rover specialists on the planet. Unfortunately this means key bits of history are being rewritten to suit the unoriginal stock and incorrect writings of those chaps.
They've been doing it for Rangies also and being told complete b
ks by the loud mouths.
Who's that then?They've been doing it for Rangies also and being told complete b
ks by the loud mouths. 
You can grab 10% off our Land Rover Defender t-shirts this weekend by using code DEFENDER10 at checkout: http://goo.gl/7sP57q
skilly1 said:
Off on family hols, 2 classics here !
Both these things are at risk now; the new owners of HMS Daedalus(Southsea airfield) are threatening to chop up the SRN4s for scrap.Happyjap said:
I'm glad of this, I really hate the Landcover I feel it has traded in on its name for years and has made nothing worthwhile since late 60's. Posh english people buy this to tell everyone they are quirky and posh! R.I.P, R.I.P to you Mr. Matt and your silly tweed hat, this must die along with coal fires and child labour all former great English institutions, sorry to offend on this!
Transmission garbled; say again all after "I'm glad of this".
Happyjap said:
I'm glad of this, I really hate the Landcover I feel it has traded in on its name for years and has made nothing worthwhile since late 60's. Posh english people buy this to tell everyone they are quirky and posh! R.I.P, R.I.P to you Mr. Matt and your silly tweed hat, this must die along with coal fires and child labour all former great English institutions, sorry to offend on this!
Sou desu ne ... 
I have mixed feelings about the passing of the classic Land rover. I took a view that the current Defender was like a Morgan or Caterham eqivilant, its a little bit of a dinosaur but it fills a niche and does what it supposed to do rather well. But unlike the Caterham or Morgan it hasn't been evolved to meet, expectations, or legislation, which is a shame.
If you look at the Merc G wagon, apart from climbing up market, its still a very serious piece of kit.
I do hope when JLR eventually launch new Defender its not another Evoque/Discory sport esque soft roader. That will be a massive let down IMO.
If you look at the Merc G wagon, apart from climbing up market, its still a very serious piece of kit.
I do hope when JLR eventually launch new Defender its not another Evoque/Discory sport esque soft roader. That will be a massive let down IMO.
Happyjap said:
I'm glad of this, I really hate the Landcover I feel it has traded in on its name for years and has made nothing worthwhile since late 60's. Posh english people buy this to tell everyone they are quirky and posh! R.I.P, R.I.P to you Mr. Matt and your silly tweed hat, this must die along with coal fires and child labour all former great English institutions, sorry to offend on this!
If this is some high level joke that's beyond my Ken then I apologise for the following:Oh dear. Do we have a little chip on our shoulder?
Now kindly f
k off. There's a good chap.(It was the Tweed comment that really irritated.).
Sorry to offend on this.
wildcat45 said:
Happyjap said:
I'm glad of this, I really hate the Landcover I feel it has traded in on its name for years and has made nothing worthwhile since late 60's. Posh english people buy this to tell everyone they are quirky and posh! R.I.P, R.I.P to you Mr. Matt and your silly tweed hat, this must die along with coal fires and child labour all former great English institutions, sorry to offend on this!
If this is some high level joke that's beyond my Ken then I apologise for the following:Oh dear. Do we have a little chip on our shoulder?
Now kindly f
k off. There's a good chap.(It was the Tweed comment that really irritated.).
Sorry to offend on this.
interloper said:
I have mixed feelings about the passing of the classic Land rover. I took a view that the current Defender was like a Morgan or Caterham eqivilant, its a little bit of a dinosaur but it fills a niche and does what it supposed to do rather well. But unlike the Caterham or Morgan it hasn't been evolved to meet, expectations, or legislation, which is a shame.
If you look at the Merc G wagon, apart from climbing up market, its still a very serious piece of kit.
I do hope when JLR eventually launch new Defender its not another Evoque/Discory sport esque soft roader. That will be a massive let down IMO.
I do also have mixed feelings about Defender production ending. JLR used the opportunity to celebrate their brand with the car that was only known as Land-Rover for 41 years. Fair enough, but there is no successor to see. If you look at the Merc G wagon, apart from climbing up market, its still a very serious piece of kit.
I do hope when JLR eventually launch new Defender its not another Evoque/Discory sport esque soft roader. That will be a massive let down IMO.
Seeing that the last example built features all kinds of decorative retro tat, it's hard to believe that the following model will top the utilitarian ingenuity of the first Land Rover. To compensate, JLR will name a footballer's wife as their product ambassador, putting the L in LUV - lifestyle utility vehicle.
Still, having all those riveted alloy body, live-axle, rattle-engined celtic excavations stubbornly distributed on- and off-road and in a bay in a workshop near you is a cultural legacy.
SidewaysSi said:
Only the Tweed?! Not the child labour or hat talk?! I find him quite funny..needs to be take in context of other posts. And no doubt that my Japanese is pretty crap.
I rely on the child labour to fix the Landy.I've not noticed his posts before. I did think it might be a joke above my head hence the apology and reference to tweed. I'm sure if he's a genuinely funny chap he'll accept the apology if required.
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