Land Rover Owner April 2022

‘We need to embrace the future’ It’s funny how some things gain traction in the world of Land Rovers - like the Vintage Racing Team competing in the Dakar Classic. While the event was running, my social media feed was full of updates about the various Land Rovers taking place; and requests for help when things weren’t going so well. It seemed that all Land Rover owners were interested in it. The same can’t be said about the new Defender - although it’s proving to be one of Land Rover’s biggest sellers, there are still some who simply won’t accept it, purely because of its name. The weird thing is that if it had been called something else, like the Discovery or the Freelander, many of the people moaning would probably have…

HELEN TAIT WRIGHT CONTRIBUTOR ● Loads of people dream of going to Morocco, and Helen managed to get there between lockdowns - read about her Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles exploits on p52. MARK SAVILLE ASSISTANT EDITOR ● ’A penguin-chasing Land Rover in the Hebrides? Are you serious?’ We asked. And Mark was serious. It’s just that’s not where the penguins are. Find out why on p74. THEO FORD-SAGERS NEWS EDITOR ● Always on the lookout for news stories, Theo was on the case with the intrepid Dakar adventurers (p68). Looks like a great, if slightly stressful, event. MARTIN DOMONEY WORKSHOP EDITOR ● Martin had a day away from the workshop to check out Joe Seymour’s and Tom Evans’ hybrid (p60). Fair to say he’s smitten with GET IN TOUCH It’s never been easier to drop us a line. We still…

Owner: JON ROBERTS I‘m glad we ordered it when we did; I wouldn’t change it for the world. Despite the old Defender ceasing production six years ago, and the new model replacing it a couple of years back, there are still people - presumably who haven’t driven one - calling the Defender L663 the ‘Pretender’. They say it’s not a real Defender because you can’t modify and improve it like the old model, and that it’s not as robust. But, as we’re finding, upgrades are starting to be made - and it does still have some of the quirks of the original. The new model was launched with a whole raft of accessories available as factory-fit or from the dealers, but the pandemic has made some of it hard to come by. And…

Saber4x4 is one of the first companies in the UK to supply a modification kit to fit 35-inch tyres to a Defender L663 - and it certainly looks the part on them. The standard vehicle runs on 32-inch tyres - and there’s a lot more to fitting the oversize tyres than just giving it a suspension lift. ‘Our two-inch-inch lift rods give the wheel clearance,’ explains Harry Tooth, Saber4x4’s R&D man, ‘but we use our radiator relocation kit to adjust the position of the side radiators, which has the added benefit of keeping it out of the mud. We then trim the front arches to allow clearance for the tyres.’ Saber also supplies a trim cover kit to maintain the vehicle’s sleek look, and the modification retains all of the inner wheelarch…

Bas V Driel was one of the first to get his hands on a new Defender. He took delivery of his P400 First Edition 110 in July 2020 - and he wasted no time in making it his. Dutchman Bas already owned a Td5 Defender and Bowler Bulldog racer so had a good idea of the sort of things he wanted; and within five days of bringing it home, it was in bits. Obviously, owning a garage (bas4cars.nl) helped a bit... PROTECTING THE UNDERSIDE First on the to-do list for Bas and mechanic Joop was to develop rock sliders - they needed to be sturdy enough to take the Defender’s weight and also stick out a little, to help keep rocks and tree stumps at a distance from the doors. It also…

1st Pictured here in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, JIM LEFEVER’S 1997 Defender 110 300Tdi has been a bit of a lockdown project. ‘Land Rovers have been turning owners into mechanics since 1948,’ says Jim. Looks like they turned him into a pretty good one. ‘Glorious lighting, great framing and a wish-it-were-mine Defender. In other words, a worthy winner!’ NEIL WATTERSON, EDITOR RICHARD MOOSE detoured to Thetford Forest to take this pic of his immaculate Discovery just after collecting it. ‘I’m looking forward to many adventures in it,’ he tells us. A very green and pleasant scene near Claerwen reservoir in Powys as Darren Parker-Townsend enjoys a greenlaning trip in his 2003 Discovery 2 Td5. The photo was taken by MATTHEW FACER, following behind in his Discovery 3. From Borgo d’Ale in…