>Lets see, they are saying the current Defender is basically the same vehicle >as the original Land Rover? Why I bet it still has a 1941 Jeep chassis too ><grin>.
Close enough. It is very true that during the second world war two brothers on a farm on Anglesey developed an all purpose car based very much on the good old flatfender Willys jeep. Particularly the chassis which was of considerable interest in its robustness and simplicity. However, steel was in short supply what with making ships and tanks and bombs and that, so for the body panels they used aluminium which was very long lasting because it doesn't rust (except for corroding by electrolysis where it comes into contact with steel) but unfortunately not very strong - hence the strong chassis. To this day, the Defender's design is almost identical to those early 'Series 1' fore-runners. The panels are actually an aluminium alloy called 'Birmabright', and the old cart springs were replaced with coils, giving outstanding axle articulation. Before my current Discovery, my crew car was a Land Rover Defender 90 and its passing I shall morn for a long time (our company cars get changed every 3 years due to the mileage we do). Also at some time in the past I have had a Series 1, 2a, 110 County. Being an old design, the Land Rover Defender is due for the chop. Because it is basically a big Mechano (Erector) set, it has to be hand-build and is incredibly labour intensive. Plus, it has design flaws that to this day still prevail - like rain dribbling in the door - Malcolm Smith will confirm this ;-) If you remark on this to a Land Rover dealer, he will answer with a time-honoured reply that just about sums up the great British car industry: 'Yes it's amazing isn't it. Don't worry, they all do that' <Land Primer ends> Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche ||=====| www.macads.co.uk/snaps _____________________________ Free UK Mac Ads www.macads.co.uk
