The demise of the Defender

Which is why his opinion has weight unlike the majority of the rest of the motoring press.

I love Andrew's videos. I originally saw his Jimny review and did not think a lot about it: (Just another guy who likes the Jimny so what?)
then I watched more of his channel and saw his background... That puts his Jimny review in a new light. He's got strong opinions... About baboons too.


Anyway on to demise of stuff, some personal examples:

Rav4
My wife has a 1997 Rav4. On our last trip to Mozambique we saw a LOT of them used by the locals in and around Inhambane.
No new Ravs used by the locals. The new Rav4 is a much better car than the old model we have. Its just not really as suitable for that kind of terrain.

BMW 1200 GS / 1250 GS
Same story. I had the last aircooled 1200GSA. The new ones are much better bikes. MUCH more power, more gadgetry, fly by wire, electronics, computer controlled this and that.

For an overland trip up Africa I would not choose the new 1250 over one of the old air cooled bikes.
Heck, I would choose a KLR over one of the aircooled GSs since it has less that can leave you stranded. And it has user servicable parts.

The defender:
For me the old Defender has always been the no.1 MOST iconic 4x4. Damn the thing just looks at home in Africa. Look back at what Armand Denis used. Its on the cover of his book as well.

Looked hard at the Gen3 in 2012, but could not afford it at that stage.

Then the Gen4 came out - That a small Defender made in Japan!

Personally I stretched my neck out beyond my comfort zone to get a Gen4 Jimny but I am not sorry for one moment I did!

 

Spoke with one of my clients this morning: They had a rather interesting problem on their new Defender.

They had a rodent in the engine that ate some of the cables. A while later they had another one in the engine. It was promptly rattexed.

I m not sure exactly where they were, but the dead rat raised a stink, attracting the attention of a passing hyaena which proceeded to eat up about 78 percent of the defender's left front fender....

Good thing the defender is so heavy, a Jimny might have been carried off.

Eaten by a Hyena! I'm so glad that I live in rural Yorkshire where the most worrying creature is a sheep.

From the LR forum

www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/defender-...d-badly-made.366200/

^^^^ Very funny and true with regard to the treatment they get.I have never actually attributed the “unreliable” tag to the old Defender.
It’s something that started to happen on JRL models as they fitted all the clever electronic gizmos and suspension aimed at the luxury market.
I love my Series 2, Its been 100% reliable for the past 16 years I have owned it, but then it only has two fuses!!!

Arrgh Sheep, the cloud shaped assasins of rural Yorkshire.