Land Rover Defender
Shaped like a brick and about as accelerative as one too,
the Land Rover seems an unlikely candidate for The List.
Additional descriptive adjectives, such as underpowered,
heavy, softly sprung, hardly seem to clinch the argument in
its favour either. 4x4s are uncool, unnecessarily large and
complex beasts driven only by people who display a selfish
lack of regard for other road users, right?
Well, in some cases, maybe. The Porsche Cayenne springs
instantly to mind, as do any of the luxury 4x4s from
Germany. But the Defender is different. It may no longer be
the vehicle of choice for Islamic fundamentalists and other
desert-based, machine-gun toting zealots, but it is the only
4x4 in the world that can truly claim impeccable, classless
cool.
The original series 1 cars were first produced in 1948,
and were intended to be a British version of the American
Jeep that had seen active service in Europe during WWII. The
use of alloy panels over a rudimentary but strong steel
chassis, together with a tough four wheel drive system,
enabled the Land Rover to earn its reputation as a durable,
go-anywhere vehicle that could cope with extreme abuse and
could be serviced with little specialist equipment.
Subsequent versions improved the breed, adding more
sophisticated engines (albeit with consequent increases in
complexity), coil spring suspension, and less basic interior
specifications. This has led to the Land Rover being
slightly diverted from its original brutally functional
aesthetic, but few would argue that the addition of proper
ventilation does not improve the car.
It is, however, the its natural ability, as
opposed to any of its other attributes, that has gained it a
place on The List. Here is a vehicle that is quite capable
of traversing 45 degree muddy inclines, yet will happily sit
in traffic on the King’s Road. And most of all, it will not
look out of place in either environment. It is the truly
classless car; not in a bland way, like the VW Golf may be
described, but in a way that states both everything and
nothing about the person driving it – you could be a farmer
or a minor royal, the Land Rover will not do anything to
reveal your exact identity.
In some ways, then, it is the Lotus Elise of the utility
vehicles market: ruthlessly committed to a single purpose,
with little regard for secondary concerns, such as comfort,
and, in the Land Rover’s case, on-road ability. It is this
single-mindedness, together with its classically simple
shape that, ultimately, has earned the Land Rover its place
on The List.
There are many variants to choose from, each with its own
quirks, but the general impressions are the same. The engine
(in this case one of the later td5 models) starts with a
typical diesel clatter, but settles down once idling. There
is a general feeling of heaviness to the major controls, but
this seems in keeping with the nature of the vehicle.
Acceleration is fairly lethargic, even in this later
model, and earlier examples are even worse, but once up to
speed it is more impressive. Until 70 MPH is reached, that
is, at which point the block-like aerodynamics result in the
sudden feeling that the engine power output has halved. This
is not a car for high speed motorway journeys.
Find a nice corner and the Land Rover will track
confidently around it at moderate speeds, albeit with a
large amount of roll. Go in faster and understeer is the
predominant characteristic; it may be possible to loosen the
rear by playing with the throttle, but it is probably not
advisable unless you have a very large expanse of empty
tarmac within which to practise. The steering, via the large
wheel is accurate enough, but is certainly not particularly
quick – big oversteer would require some very nifty hands to
catch.
To talk of on-road ability, though, is to completely miss
the point of the vehicle. It is only when the tarmac turns
to mud, the concrete to bare rock, that the Land Rover truly
proves itself. Many superlatives have been heaped on its
off-road ability over the years, but it is only when you
find yourself climbing a 45 degree grass bank that you
realise why it is so highly praised. It just tracks through
and over everything in its path, and will only be beaten
when it is almost time to get out the climbing ropes and
crampons. Just ensure that you are able and willing to give it
the life that it really craves.
