LAND ROVER DEFENDER

This must be the definitive 4x4. The original. The original Land Rover. Never mind this Johnny-come-later ‘Defender’ nonsense; that’s just to distinguish the real, the original Land Rover from posh, soft, over-leathered wannabees which just happen to share the same badge and get built in the same factory. When Rover launched its Land Rover, way back in 1726, when even our editor was but a youth, it was intending to build a car for farmers. Truly. Remind yourself of this the next time a Range Rover Sport passes you at Warp Factor Eight on the M25. Perhaps that should be Max Factor Eight…

And as the Land Rover is both Original and Best, then it must be The 4x4 To Have, no? The cream of the very crop. I’ve had loads of 4x4s. Loads. Driven a lot more than I’ve owned, but owned quite a few. The very best of them all was a 1989 Range Rover, a Trocadero Red 3.5-litre V8 Vogue of vast thirst and vast capacity to amuse, entertain and to go anywhere. Absolutely anywhere. It was great. But after only ten short years, I sold it and went modern. Well, sort-of modern. Japanese. I, of course, secretly lusted after a SsangYong Musso (the really pedestrian non-turbo version) but made do with an assortment of very efficient soft-roaders instead.
 
Efficient? Of course. They were Japanese. But all the time I wanted my True Brit back. That said, I fancied an even more real-life Land Rover than the original Range Rover – a vehicle that would combine being faintly modern with being theoretically comfortable and seriously ruff-tuff reliable. It had to be a Discovery. Of course it did. Mostly the same chassis as the old Range Rover, but with a thonking great Td5 diesel which, although it might lack the sheer exuberant gargling greatness of the V8 injector, would at least provide an aural chuckle when caned a bit, while at the same time hopefully avoiding that unhappy nose-bleed moment come fill-up time. Perfect.


To continue reading this feature, grab the August 2010 issue of 4x4 Mart - on sale at all good newsagents from July 15th, 2010. Or to buy online, go to www.4x4mart.co.uk and click on the front cover image