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What the ? New Land Rover Defender

Ajeman

Registered User
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Unfortunately the company is an 'upmarket' brand now and the utilitarian vehicles just don't sell like the current lineup. The last few years of the old defender run made next to nothing profit wise and shareholders don't like not making money. I think LR did the best they could and I think the new Defender is the best design they could have done given the constraints they have.

I'm a big Land Rover fan having owned:
Series II (Both 88 & 109)
Series III (Both 88 & 109)
Defender 90
Discovery ( 1 & 2)
Range Rover P38
Freelander 1 (Wife's car)

I still have the Defender 90 and Range Rover P38 (Although it's currently for sale) and I have placed a new defender on order (Although I need the commercial so won't be taking delivery until late next year)

For me the new Defender is the perfect blend of new technology and old fashioned ruggedness, refined enough to drive everyday but tough enough to keep going when the tarmac ends. I know it will never be what my old Defender 90 is, but both will have a spot in my garage for completely different reasons.
 

Cougar377

Express elevator to hell
Staff member
Moderator
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I wonder what the Forces will buy to replace their Landies..
 

Ajeman

Registered User
Read Only
I wonder what the Forces will buy to replace their Landies..

The MOD has been phasing out Land Rovers for a while now. For getting around they now use 'White Fleet' (Standard cars and minibuses) as they are cheaper and leased as a normal company would and for operational vehicles they have brought specific vehicles for different roles as the landy's were always a 'make do' at most things rather than role specific.
 

slim63

Never surrender
Club Sponsor
The MOD has been phasing out Land Rovers for a while now. For getting around they now use 'White Fleet' (Standard cars and minibuses) as they are cheaper and leased as a normal company would and for operational vehicles they have brought specific vehicles for different roles as the landy's were always a 'make do' at most things rather than role specific.

Role specific is ok if the correct vehicle is there for the role which it isn't all of the time, the logistics of this has been the downfall of many an operation in the past not only with vehicles but also with basic military kit
 

Cougar377

Express elevator to hell
Staff member
Moderator
Club Sponsor
The MOD procurement bean counters have a long and distinguished reputation for opting for the lowest bidder and selecting "multi-role" equipment to get "best value for money".

The Land Rover was one such example. It was a great utility vehicle but as the Gulf wars and Afghanistan proved, there was a limit to what you could bodge to fit a new role. One of the plusses of today is that access to todays media (and social media in particular) mean that stories of poor quality kit and the consequences of it being issued to frontline troops get to see the light of day and in spades. For those of us who served back in the 80's (for me), 70's and 60's there was no real method of voicing frustrations at poor kit, so you just put up with it. Brit Forces have a long established reputation of being able to "make do", but in truth there was feck all choice.

Half the kit that I was issued was soon consigned to the back of my locker in favour of commercially bought stuff. Norge shirts, pure wool walking socks, Ajungilak sleeping bag, Lundhags boots, Berghaus bergen....the list went on. Many of us spent a small fortune to have quality kit that would survive field work, yet some ladyparts in Whitehall who signed off on the purchase of second rate kit would ultimately retire with his name in the honours list and a healthy pension, having never used nor even seen the kit and certainly never given a thought to the troops who had to suffer for his departments penny pinching.
 

Toast

Birdie Maniac
Club Sponsor
Are they giving free 'lifetime' recovery and vehicle loan if you buy one?
I still wouldn't... Such a poor reputation precedes them (plus I used to be 'involved' with 4X4mart magazine LOL)
My CRV is safe in the drive...
 
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