Namibia's content-driven motoring portal
It’s a crisp and sunny winter morning in the Kruger Park and a number of cars have bunched up in one place to get a better look at some interesting fauna. Lions juggling a baby giraffe or something. More worryingly though, in the midst of the obligatory Fortuners and Defenders is a silver Honda Accord V6.
I’m not a connoisseur of household appliances. Although I always try to purchase those of reputable brands, the only time I splashed out on something extravagant for the kitchen was when Mr. Porsche made a kettle. Other than that, I tend to ignore tumble dryer sales and don’t subscribe to Appliance Enthusiast magazine.
I’ve always thought that the Landrover Freelander looked a bit like the odd horse out in the Landy stable – it was just a little bit strange-looking and didn’t fit either the mould of the rough and ready Defender or the more luxurious Discovery. It seemed to hang in there like an uncomfortable third wheel. But no more.
Dear car manufacturers, I’m writing to you today with less of a rant than a positive criticism about a trend that has been slowly creeping into luxury cars over the past few years. It isn’t massage seats, head-up displays or infra-red vision, no, it’s the analogue clock.
Hoe méér dinge verander, hoe méér bly hulle dieselfde. Almal herken dadelik ‘n Land Rover Defender as hy (of sy) hom sien; of dit nou ‘n1950 model is of die jongste 130 met sy dubbelkajuit en groot bak met ‘n seilkappie agter, maak nie saak nie. Wat my laat dink aan die Bybelse gelykenis van nuwe wyn in ‘n ou wynsak!
Wederhelf vertel toe onlangs aan ‘n vriendin dat ons (ook) ‘n Land Rover het. Toe ons op ‘n dag by hulle aankom, was hulle opmerklik onthuts omdat hulle ‘n Defender besit en ons nie ‘n “regtige” Land Rover besit nie!
Land-Rover was one of the first companies to identify and attack the SUV market, bolstered by its experience with no-nonsense bundu bashers and luxury brawlers. The Discovery was launched in 1989 to neatly fill the gap between the basic Defender and suave Range Rover.
As per usual, I’m launching straight into a confession with this week’s review of the Land-Rover Defender 110: I actually own a Defender. I encouraged colleagues to write about the boxy Brit but somehow everyone was busy, thus I’ll try to be as objective and rational as possible.