Old vs. New Land Rover

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

I too have been through the LR experience!

At one time many years ago I was desperate for one but money was tight. Afetr scouring Exchange and Mart I found a Series 1 diesel in the depths of Shropshire. One dark evening I travelled to the farm taking a mechanic mate with me. What I didn't know was that my soon to be '58 model had a Rover 2 ltr diesel wich was only made for two years. The flats above the rear wheels still had the conversions allowing it to be classed as an agricultural vehicle.

The exhaust was a motor cycle silencer that stuck out vertically from the front off side wing.

The man (Gerald Cattle - appropriate name for a farmer) told me that there enough fuel to get me back to Wrexham. I stopped about half way to check the level in the tank under the seat. He was right but it was red diesel. I drove the rest of the way home with a very light throttle hoping not to draw attention to myself as it wasn't taxed or insured either. My mate following in his van was going to cover that for me - how I cannot remember but I think there was a certain amount of naivety involved.

That vehicle was a pile of junk and cost me a fortune. I had two more, the last being a SII LWB with a Perkins 4208 diesel. That wasn't too bad and eventually I saw the light and vowed never to return to Land Rover.

I've driven many since but could never get on with the driving position, steering wheel being offset and my right elbow jammed against the door. They're very capable vehicles and once the Solihull germ has entered the soul, I don't think it ever goes!

Hence my recent purchase of a Freelander commercial. Against all advice, I went for it as it filled my requirements and I'm totally satisfied with it. A very capable vehicle with a beautiful diesel engine.

Apologies for rambling on but the topic has brought back quite a few memories and to qualify for the green issues brigade, it is far more economical to run than my last L200.

OMG..
This sounds just like when we got ours..Series 111..
I looked on the web found one I or my OH had never driven one before. It cost £1000. I drove our car home following him in the land rover he said he did 40 all the way home I said no you didn't you did 60..
It had range rover diffs a racing tiny streering wheel it veered to one side as the steering column needed replacing and it was green once as it was painted green inside.
£4000 +..later its a not a bad vehicle...
We got home and I wanted to drive it so we went out into the country lanes I got in the drivers seat and could not drive it in a straight line the streering was very loose I got out and swore I would never drive the thing again so it sat on the drive I would walk past it cursing it.
Then one day I got in to go shopping, parked right at the back of the store well away from everyone else and have been driving it ever since.

[manwithhabits]

Hi,

I had to join this forum just to post my reply!!!!

I'm a series driver as well. Mine's one year older than me, and it much better condition!. Although a previous owner gave it an engine transplant and it now has a 2.8TD in it, it's still not a 'modern' diesel, and this does have its benefits. Like so many have said, they're easy to repair, and in common with most owners, other than service parts, anything I buy tends to have been 'preloved', a more fun way of recycling.

Landy owners will tell you that half the fun of being adopted by a Land Rover is the Cuban way of amking them last a little bit longer. I guess there's many Landies out there with bits on the them that were fabricated, shoe horned and beaten into their current function, and that really is part the fun. One other point that has only been mentioned before in this thread and deserves a bit more discussion is the issue of burning WVO (waste vegetable oil)

Most older Land Rover Diesel engines are suitable for this, as is my old Daihatsu engine. Apart from the massive benefit of WVO generally being free, it makes fantastic use of a waste product. There's some initial outlay in the hardware - depending on how you want to do it - but no more so than a decent service on some modern cars. Other than that it's free.

It may use more fuel than more modern cars, but one of the benefits at this time of year is that you won't get stuck in 2 inches of snow in a Landy, waste a quarter of a tank of fuel spinning wheels trying to get free, only to en up calling a nasty smoke spewing recovery truck to come and rescue you!

To change the point slightly, can someone tell me where I'm going wrong owning a vehicle that costs £2 a week to insure, nothing to tax, is capable of running on free fuel and has some personality.

My Landy isn't my daily runner. I'd love it to be, but the steering is just too scarey to use it every day!

[Meta menardi]

The old ones did have some strange things done to them. A friend of mine went for a test drive in one (Many years ago). The owner pointed to a switch on the dash and said "remember to switch this on every now and again". It was connected to a little pump that pumped the oil that had fallen out of the engine (leaked sounds like it was not expected to come out) and into a little drip tray under the engine, back into the engine.

He didn't buy it (£50), he paid £75 "to get a really good one".

[Leafy]

Just thought I'd pop back to tell you that this has actually come up on the Land Rover facebook page, for anyone that's on facebook that is. There's actually a page dedicated to the environmental wing of Land Rover. There's vids and stuff too. Worth looking at anyway. www.facebook.com/landroverourplanet

[Meta menardi]

Originally Posted by Leafy

a page dedicated to the environmental wing of Land Rover...www.facebook.com/landroverourplanet

That will be the passenger side front wing? You can often find evidence of every environment jammed up in there, with some of them.

[aland]

I personally think that the government is making a hash of this environmental thing with cars, lots of us with four wheel drive may only do very small mileages perhaps four or five thousand miles per year, Our motors may not do many to the gallon and for this we get penalized or accused of not being Eco friendly, And yet people with more modern cars may easily do twenty thousand and more miles each year, Surely this amounts to the same thing and yet they will pay less road tax!!, Our four wheel drive is used for what it was intended in mud with a trailer hooked up to it, As for trying to keep us of the road i would like the government to try getting to work from here at six in the morning, Sorry if i left the point of this thread on Landies, aland.

[Blackdog]

And not all LR and other 4x4 drivers are irresponsible "mud-pluggers" either...

4x4 Response National Website

I won't rant on about it because I am a member

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

I too have a Series 3 Land Rover that is 26 yrs old I love her to bits and wouldn't part with her for the world..

Ooops.....My Land Rover is 35yrs old not 26yrs as previously thought..