The end of the Defender

Having owned three of the early Landrovers, series 1, 11A and series 3 I have fond memories of changing broken axles on steep climbs and pulling a busted diff out at Cape Palmerston (yep I carried all the spares in an ammo case in the back and the spare axles behind the seat). Changing a clutch was a nightmare just to get the box out and in the end I fitted a 202 Holden motor to the series 2 to get it to perform. The series 3 belonged in the rubbish bin straight out of the box with it's stupid half side valve half overhead six cylider motor. The only airconditioning was to open the front vents and so if you were following a mate the whole family alighted covered in dust and grime. The only good thing about the Landy was you could get inside with the hose and get all the dust and mud out which was a good thing cause it had virtually no dust sealing. Admittedly the Landy went everywhere but then so did the Toyota. The best thing I ever did was buy a Toyota. The 60 series Landcruiser was airconditioned, had power steering, was virtually unbreakable and comfortable. What more can I say.
RIP Defender.

Having owned a Series 2 personally, had a couple of rellies that owned them, and worked on more of them than I care to remember, I reckon that the main reason for their demise is that the various manufacturing mobs that owned the marque, didn't move with the times.
From my perspective, the original concept worked just fine. Simple, no frills build, asthetics taking a back seat, so to speak, approach, worked well in the earlier years. I must say this concept suited an old fart like me. Unfortunately the competition moved past that, and I suspect the attraction of combining ruggedness with creature comforts didn't get a mention at the designing table. Reliability may have got an honourable mention and that's about all.

I gotta confess, most of the offerings from Toyota, Nissan, etc, might pip the old Landy in the comfort and reliability stakes but one thing they never had that the Landy had in spades.

PERSONALITY...... LOL.

Cheers
Pop

Sad to see an icon go but lets be realistic from the makers view, volumes were simply not there and we move on.

I only ever had one - a Series 3 long wheelbase trayback ute with the 4 cyl petrol motor. I bought it second hand for $1,000 at a farm clearing sale in about 1980 and had it for about 10 years of great performance mixed with sheer unreliability. You could never be guaranteed of going anywhere and actually getting home again without it overheating or breaking down somehow.

But for all that, the thing that really gave me the irrits the most constantly, was the 2 acre turning circle. For a vehicle conceived, designed and built in a small place like Britain where tight confines were the norm, why a better turning circle wasn't top and centre in their thinking was always a mystery.

I often think the wonder of the Defender, is that they've only just discontinued in 2016, a full 25 years after its use-by date, I'd have thought.

For all that, I don't reckon there's ever been a 4by put its power onto the ground as well as the old Landy. We had a 4x2 prime mover with a bogie semi that we carted grain with and it often got stuck in the sandy paddocks and the best way to get it out was to give it a bit of a nudge from behind with a tractor. Or the Land Rover, which worked just as well without having to go and get the tractor! How a crappy old thing like a Landy could push a semi-trailer laden with 20 ton of wheat out of a soft sand bog never ceased to amaze me. Landcruisers couldn't and nor could the other 4by we had, an International Scout (which WAS truly the WORST vehicle I ever owned, but that's a whole nother story!)

For sure, lingering memories, having owned three.

Okay, yes, you’d think I would have learned my lesson after the first, but I must say, the first was okay, the second was a disaster and I’m actually sorry I sold the third which I wrote about in a blog titled...

Red Rover - A Tale of a Landrover Make-over

Oops, Mrs Landy is looking over my shoulder and has that look in her eye that suggests “don’t you go getting all sentimental – our bank balance has only just recovered...”

Vale, the Landrover Defender, mostly fond memories for me, and even fonder memories for the people that looked after them (I'm sure), after all those oil leaks must have helped their superannuation balances grow over the years!

Is there a Landrover Industry Super Fund?

As a footnote… “Baz - The Landy” came about as a consequence of owning three Land Rover Defenders, but as you can see this has now changed and yes, I've recovered fully!

And whilst I'm reluctant to refer to the new vehicle as “The Landy” that’s for sure; the owners’ of either brand would never forgive me!

But “Baz - The Landy” reference has stuck, so “Baz - The Landy” it is…

Cheers, Baz – "The Landy"

Oh, in case you are wondering, I never used that shovel (on the back of The Landy) to dig “The Landy” out of a hole, it was there for me to dig myself a hole to hide from Mrs Landy in, whenever it went off to the workshop…

A case of, hit the trenches Baz!

'
I have never had my backside in the driver's seat of a Defender so unable to make comment on that model.
But I did trundle a Series 1 around the Woomera Range for a few years. Dreadful thing. Hopelessly underpowered, rattled like a bunch of tin cans in a cement mixer and sucked dust in like a vacuum cleaner.
However, the Survey teams, Missile Recovery crews and even Len Beadell went all over the place cross-country in them so who was I to complain...... I was in elite company, even though I secretly yearned for the FJ ute that preceded the Rover. They were both stinking hot in summer but the Series 1 was incredibly draughty in winter. Who cared, I had a job of roaming the bush and being paid for it!

It is not really dead - it is just that for marketing reasons the new vehicle will have a new name - just like as has been done in the past - the Landrover 80/86/88/107/109 became the Series 2 (there never was a series 1) and then the Series 3 - than back to just Landrover (wheelbase) and then the Defender - all just names even though the vehicles changed.

Really no different to the change that will be from Defender to whatever the new vehicle will be called. The new vehicle will be different but will still at its heart fulfill the same role as the Defender and its predecessors.

Garry

Ran around the bush in them for 18 years in the army. And that's what they were good for. They had a 4 cylinder Isuzu turbo diesel which I must say was pretty good The Army called them a Perenti.They were fairly 'soldier proof' no comforts and no computers.
The problem I found was that the driving position was very close to the door and so constantly banged my elbow. They were never meant for touring,noisy and dusty. In fact even the Army has given up on them. Gone to some Mercedes over engineered thing. I bet they will be sorry with those.
I know the civvy mechanics the Army employs to repair their vehicles OMG they will be well out of their depth.

Jeff

Had old landy for several years and never had any rust due to all the oil leaks.

Was in one in King George Square in Brisbane when the axle snapped. Just put it in 4WD and drove home to change the axle.

Alan

Hi

Not a Defender as such but I have only ever owned one Land Rover (109) and still have it. Has never broken down and has no oil leaks. Purchase price $1:00. Just lucky I guess.



Cheers
Greg

My old man, told me a story from up on the snowy, about a bloke who had to drive from 3 mile camp (kiandra) to Adaminaby, got stuck in the Eucumbene River, when he managed to get out, took his wet socks and boots off.. When he arrived at Adaminaby, they had to keep pouring warm water over his foot, was frozen to the throttle... Hard life up there in winter... We had the land rovers when we lived in Africa late seventies early eighties, when ever you would go out of town, always two vehicles, most times when we would get into trouble, one winch would give up on one.. And the other vehicle, the winch would work, but wouldn't engage four wheel drive.. So a two wheel drive with a winch, and a four wheel drive with no winch, spend the day trying to just turn around, up to the axles.. But never had one not want to start... Odog

Never actually owned a Defender - but the earlier Landrovers were just dreadful things.

Highway work with them was painful. If you got 90kmh out of them, you were doing well. 100kmh sounded like you were about to start breaking the sound barrier.
The problem was, you couldn't hear yourself think at those speeds, because of the engine noise, the road noise, and the rattles and bangs.

They rode like a dray, they broke axles faster than I could change my shirts, they were so gutless, overtaking was nothing less than a suicide mission.
The brakes were absolutely shocking, the seats bloody awful - and they were just plain agricultural.

They rolled over at the first opportunity with an inexperienced driver. The door seals had more gaps than a comb. The door seals only lasted 5 mins, such was the shaking and movement of the doors in the frame.

LR bodies were totally rust free - but the chassis rusted instead. The first you knew of this was when the chassis broke in half.
The chassis held corrosion-inducing moisture and mud in at least 20 points along it.

Unless you carefully pressure-washed the chassis regularly and ensured it was dry, it would corrode - horribly - and you couldn't see the corrosion until the chassis fractured on you.

About the worst of any vehicle ever manufactured for total inaccessibility of components.

If the cooling system got rusty, the core plug at the rear of the block corroded through and dropped all the coolant on the ground.
Guess where that plug was located? Yep, right against the firewall!
You had to either remove the engine or cut a hole in the firewall to replace the plug.
Guess how many old LR's are running around with a patch plate on the firewall??

We fixed the gearbox removal problem that was caused by the gearbox cross-member being welded in position - by cutting the cross-member out - and welding on attachment plates to the chassis and the cross-member.
These plates were drilled to take 5/16" bolts - and hey presto! - we had a fully removable cross-member!

In the Australian Army, the LR was King. The AMF bought them because no-one in the Defence Dept knew what a good 4WD looked like - and besides, they were BRITISH! - so they had to be good! - What Ho, Chaps!

In 'Nam, the AMF actually utilised a 106mm recoilless rifle in a SWB LR! It worked O.K. up to a point - until you started to give the 106mm a good workout - and then the LR started to fall apart!

Gunbuggy

The Defence Dept didn't really care what LR running costs were. They bought them because the British Defence Agencies used them - and us Aussies had to have compatible equipment, old chap!
Couldn't have the disastrous experiences of WW2 repeated, could we!
We had 117 different vehicles during the War! What a schemozzle for Logistics that was!

I am utterly amazed that the Landrover has actually lasted this long in production. I'm sure it was because Defence Agencies kept buying them, because it was a tradition - nothing else.

Despite all that, I bought my 1st Landrover in 1967 - a 1960 Series II traytop petrol 2.25L 4cyl - and it did sterling service for the largely paddock work it carried out.
There wasn't anything any better to buy, back then, anyway! Jeeps were dreadfully overpriced and just as agricultural as the LR.

The Landrover I bought had 34,000 miles (55,000kms) on it when I bought it, the motor did about another 30,000 miles (50,000kms) before it just got plain tired - so a 186 Holden was slotted in.
That improved the performance a bit, but it did nothing for fuel consumption.

However, the old Landrover excelled in pure grip on the ground. It regularly hauled around a 1000 gallon (4500 litre) 4 wheel articulated fuel trailer, from job to job, through deep sandy paddocks and mudholes in Winter.

Then one day, the truck pulling the low-loader, broke an axle whilst climbing a hill on a gravel road, hauling the Cat D6 dozer.
This rig was a late 1950's International R190, single drive, and the low-loader was a tandem axle modified ex-WW2 tank carrier!
The truck weighed 4 ton, the low loader weighed 8 ton, and the Cat D6 weighed 18 tons!
All-up weight, 30 tons! (30,490kg).

We only had to go about a mile (1.6kms) to reach a gate in the paddock where we were to start work, anyway - so rather than risk road damage by unloading the Cat, we decided to see if the Landrover would pull the broken-down low-loader the one mile up to the gate, where we could pull in, and unload.

We backed the Landrover up to the truck, attached a chain, selected 1st gear low range and took up the slack.
Gunning the Landrover, she scratched and scrabbled at the gravel, and dug a bit of a trench - but the low-loader and dozer moved off!
Selecting 2nd low, the Landrover gained more speed - then it was into 3rd low, and we were cooking with gas!

The Landrover wheeled the low-loader straight in through the gate and pulled it up to a level spot where we could unload.
It was a sterling effort, particularly seeing as the initial start was on a grade of about 7 or 8%.
The old Landrover finally retired to the farm and died there sometime in the mid-80's.

But guess what! - I still have a complete, excellent condition 1979 Series III LWB diesel panel van sitting on blocks in my workshop!
It's just awaiting for the motor to be re-installed, so I can take it along to vintage motor shows - and show off just how primitive 4WD-ing used to be! [;-)

Cheers, Ron.

I reckon Len Beadell might have disagreed with some of the comments here, he managed to blaze some pretty iconic tracks in his, which I am sure that plenty here have driven & are quite appreciative that he & his trusty Landie made the effort!

I suppose it is one less vehicle to tow out of the bush worked on them drove them towed them would never own one . worked on just about every model of 4wd Bought one that i did the least work on.Peter

I think the demise of the Defender was announced months and months ago.
I wouldn't mind betting it goes back into production in India, but without the emission & safety ratings required for the rest of the world.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome