Why a Land-Rover?

Some of my friends are puzzled that I choose to own and drive one of these (relatively) massive vehicles instead of a car. So what are the advantages? Well, one of the obvious ones is size... it is very capacious! Here are some more good points about them:

Durability
Land Rovers have been in production since 1948, and it is reckoned that 75% of all those ever built are still in use. In fact, Land Rover drivers sometimes refer to other makes of 4x4 as ``disposables''!
Greenness
It's said that a motor vehicle uses more energy to build it than it will use to propel it in its lifetime. If this is true (I'm going to try to find a reference for it) a vehicle that lasts many times longer than other vehicles uses less energy overall than the multiple replacements that you would otherwise have to get. Also, a diesel Land-Rover is not a ``gas-guzzler'', despite the reputation that some people have tried to give them.
Versatility
With most types of vehicles, if it doesn't do a particular thing that you want it to do, that's tough. With a Land Rover, you simply get some bits of metal, cut, bend and join them to shape, to adapt it to do what you want.
Towing capacity
The Land Rover is an excellent tug, both for trailers and for moving other vehicles. I've heard of an 80" Series I Land Rover (the little original ones, with a 1.6 litre engine) towing an 18-ton steam traction engine; I don't know what the maximum towing load for a modern, 2.5 litre, Land Rover is.
Off-road ability
As well as having a wide range of gear ratios, the Land Rover has excellent suspension and good ground clearance, allowing it to cover much rougher terrain than most non-tracked vehicles of its size.

To emphasize how capacious they are: here's a picture of mine, nearly full.

Full Land-Rover
[Land-Rovers]
John C. G. Sturdy
[John's home] Last modified: Sun Jun 10 22:10:12 GMT Daylight Time 2007