Landy Question for Mr Phoenix

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by Richard Coutts-Smith

A shame?
I dunno, I would have been quite happy to see them do that to my LandRover Defender....as long as the salesman was strapped in!
Rich.

Which model Defender did you have, Rich? I had a Discovery TDi which I loved but which also was the least reliable vehicle I have ever owned, and that includes Morris Minors and Oxfords. It leaked oil (of course), the ABS died, constant trouble with the drive belts, cooling system failure, cam belt broke, alarm malfunction, the list goes on. It was the 4 cylinder 300 TDi series.

A couple of years ago I bought a similar package - a Mitsubishi DiD Pajero which has been brilliant.

[Richard Farrant]

Land Rovers have never been the same since Ford took them over

[Howard]

Originally Posted by Richard Farrant

Land Rovers have never been the same since Ford took them over

Really? At my work there was a Customer who used to bring his landie in and on the back there was a sticker that read "Authorised Ford Destroyer". The sticker was quite old and the author has been proved to be quite intuitive...

[sapper740]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

Which model Defender did you have, Rich? I had a Discovery TDi which I loved but which also was the least reliable vehicle I have ever owned, and that includes Morris Minors and Oxfords. It leaked oil (of course), the ABS died, constant trouble with the drive belts, cooling system failure, cam belt broke, alarm malfunction, the list goes on. It was the 4 cylinder 300 TDi series.

A couple of years ago I bought a similar package - a Mitsubishi DiD Pajero which has been brilliant.

My experiences with Landies and other British cars date back nearly 40 years, and they were all good experiences. The predecessor to B.C. Railway was the Pacific Great Eastern railway. They used 88's to get around B.C.'s mountainous terrain in order to work on the rails. After a decade or so of hard use, they would auction their Land Rovers off. They were always eagerly snapped up by the public because, even though the bodies were badly battered, they were kept in perfect mechanical condition. A good friend of mine bought one and we spent many a weekend 4X4ing the backwoods of B.C., usually drunk as skunks and having the time of our lives. The Landie never let us down. The same can be said for the multitude of Sunbeams, Hillmans, Austins, Cortinas, Humbers, Jaguars, Triumphs, MG's, Commers, and Morris's that were driven by various friends and brothers of mine. Of course, these were all pre-British Leyland.
What happened after British Leyland came into being? I have no idea but the quality of British cars went into the dumpster and lead to the demise of many British car dealers in Canada. What a shame.

[Keith Webb]

The issue of reliability with my earlier cars was more to do with their age than build quality. The first car I owned ($25) was a 1959 Singer Gazelle, followed by around 15 Minors of various types. They had weak gearboxes, especially the series II. The Morris Oxford series MO had weak axles and the diecast door handles used to just break off. Having said all that I loved them and learned a lot about how cars worked. The price for a Morris back in the 1970s varied from free to a few hundred dollars and I don't think I ever paid over a hundred for one. My favourite was a Wolseley 4/44 which was pure style, cheap, and low mileage. My dad had a series 2A Landy which although it had done far too many miles was a great vehicle. British Leyland went on to market things like Triumphs, Mokes and Marinas as well as the spectacularly unsuccessful home-grown P76.

Sorry to hijack the thread Richard!

Originally Posted by sapper740

My experiences with Landies and other British cars date back nearly 40 years, and they were all good experiences.

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Hi-Jack away Keith!
In answer to your earlier question, it was the 300TDI. My biggest problem was the local L/Rover agent. Bought it on Friday, Monday cracked the head and seized the engine the other side of Goondiwindi.(for non Aussies, about 14 hours drive away, and in the middle of no where) The Agent paid for a 2nd hand head to be fitted to get me home, which it did although leaking oil and sounding like a chaff cutter, but denied any further responsibility due to the fact that the work had not been done by them! I could go on for some time, but I now drive a (yawn) Nissan Patrol. 23 years of Landie ownership and then I went cold turkey! Don't know if I can ever recover.......makes owning the Champ a piece of cake.
Rich.

[sapper740]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

The Morris Oxford series MO had weak axles and the diecast door handles used to just break off. Having said all that I loved them and learned a lot about how cars worked. The price for a Morris back in the 1970s varied from free to a few hundred dollars and I don't think I ever paid over a hundred for one.

I have a story about a Morris Oxford titled, "The car that wouldn't die!" My brother bought Morris Oxford for $75 in the late '60s. After a year of faithful service and the purchase of a '57 Chevy with a high performance 327, we decided it was time to let the Morris go. Simply selling her wasn't in the cards though, we decided that nothing short of a fiery end fit for a Viking King entering Valhalla would do. Off to Blueberry Bowl (pre Provincial Park era) on Hollyburn Mountain we went with our load of shotguns, shells, and many glass 1 gallon wine bottles full of gasoline. At the time, Blueberry Bowl had recently been logged and there were many logging roads, one of which was on a steep hill at the bottom of which was a hairpin turn onto a bridge. If you missed the turn you would fall into a 150 ft. deep chasm. We spent a delightful afternoon alternately bashing into things with the Morris and holing it with blasts from the shotguns. She took it all in stride and we actually were reluctant to end that which she clung to so tenaciously, but to all things, there is a season. We loaded the gas filled wine bottles into the back seat, turned the engine on to better guarantee ignition, tied the steering wheel down and with a push, off she went. It was a glorious, fitting end for such a dependable vehicle, the likes of which few autos can aspire to.

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by sapper740

It was a glorious, fitting end for such a dependable vehicle, the likes of which few autos can aspire to.

Or... you could have taken it to a Junkyard and got $20 and a valuable resource could have been recycled. Sheesh! What were you thinking? Damn Engineers have to blow everything up!




PS I like Explosions!

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by sapper740

I have a story about a Morris Oxford

It would have been completely justifiable provided there are pictures, preferably motion ones.

[sapper740]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

It would have been completely justifiable provided there are pictures, preferably motion ones.

Those were different times, eh? We were young, dumb and full of something that rhymes with dumb. They were glorious times where consequence was a big word like marmalade and had no business in our lives. Keith, I could have borrowed my girlfriend's father's Super 8 movie camera, and left proof of our shenanigans, but I wasn't THAT dumb. Derek.