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I completely agree. I've had a bad back for three decades (ruptured disc that never comes right). The absolute worst vehicles for aggravating it were the Toymota HiLuxes we used as work cars years ago but most cars don't help. However, over all that time, a long journey in an early 110 or Series 3 Land Rover actually makes my back much better. Range Rovers and Discoveries have also been fine and my little Mercedes is good if I concentrate on how I sit. I think, with those Land Rovers, it's a combination of a seat that isn't sloppy and a driving position that more or less forces your bum i

That doesn't make a bucket load of sense. It's the engine doing the emitting, not the suspension, difflocks or traction control! I don't think I could own a new vehicle these days. All this big brother knows best complexity just ____es me off. A lot!

The promotional video they put out when they unveiled the new Defender showed someone reversing a trailer using a dash dial to steer and the telly on the dash to look. The idea seemed to be "tell us where you want to go and we'll back it for you". Clever technology which just makes me sad.

I can't see fleet buyers taking large scale risks. It would need a year or two to be sure the Grenadier isn't a dud (I can't imagine it would be but history is more accurate than the average psychic). It could be that they produce pared-down fleet versions if there is a demand. That would be interesting. Then again, I used to work for a government department. They bought from a Japanese manufacturer via a stores board contract. The vehicles were fundamentally poor anyway and the pared-down versions were dreadful but we sold them at three years old for the price paid new! Pricing is

There seems to be a quietly growing class of vehicle these days, that are getting used for transport to remote sites or trailer hauling when people don't want the ubiquitous (but restricting) crew cab 4WDs. Things like the Ford Everest, Isuzu Mu-X and at least one Holden and a Toymota come to mind. These are more or less a pick up truck converted into a station wagon, with better rear suspension. They have big rubber and decent ground clearance. In fact, given that most have traction control, they are the natural competitor for the new Defender and much cheaper to boot. You can't blame pe

My current project is a strip and re-purpose of an old farm trailer to make it a road trailer (fitting springs, replacing wooden bearers with steel, making sides etc. etc.). I feel like a kid playing in a sandpit next to any of DeRanged's sidetracks! I've been in his old workshop and everything is just so well done. It's amazing. Actually, I used the big shackles I bought off him on my first visit to help pull that tree over, so we've neatly tied this thread together again!

The tree went well, thanks. A mature twin pine leaning in a very bad direction over a building site. It had to swing about 120 degrees to miss everything, so it took some thinking. We picked a day with a strong, favourable wind and used the Land Rover winch with snatch block to apply a compensatory load. Then I went up with my own ropes and harness (recent purchase but I did it for work years ago) and trimmed a fair bit of weight off the bad side. Could have been easier if I hadn't sold my arborist saw last week - the "mid-sized" saw isn't ideal in a tight spot like that! Slowest part wa

I'd have thought a tapered roller at the bottom makes sense but it could be overkill at the top. Your structure would have to be very rigid to hold adjustment, while the bottom is self-adjusted via gravity. Maybe something like a sturdy teflon bush at the top, which only gets a side loading? Just a rambling thought, sorry - I'm just about to grab a chainsaw and some rope and head up a mate's pine tree to scare myself a bit, so the brain's slightly distracted!

There was a 1948 80" in a shed only a couple of miles from here. I sold the owners a Morris Minor in 1992, which is when I first saw it. The family had it from new, I believe. They'd hit it with red paint in the distant past and they had riveted some galvanised sheet to the soft-top hoops but it was otherwise original and used every winter when "it got too muddy to use the Suzuki"! It disappeared a year or two ago. I'd be very surprised if they got anything like UK prices for it. My old 86" (which was one of six sent to trial the USA market and then converted back to right hand dri

That's gorgeous! It's a bit sad to think that, quite probably, someone is going to buy it, strip it and restore it. There is serious charm that comes with the patina of an old Land Rover.

Tongue in cheek but ... you can already get most of that kit! Just buy the relevant Series/Defender body panels (shortened to suit) and it will look very similar. Actually, the fact the Grenadier has a strong resemblance to early Land Rovers is a definite plus. It's a comfortably familiar and practical look and vastly nicer than what Land Rover produced, in the eyes of many of us. The only real down side is that boat prow up front - but that is a nanny state requirement and a much better solution than the cheap and tacky looking, bulbous and vulnerable solution LR came up with, so I co

A 200hp six cylinder diesel actually sounds appealing, even if very little else does (for me). I am skeptical about that fuel economy claim for the P400e...

They've fixed one of the problems Land Rovers carried for two thirds of a century by making full width doors. Two doors make a lot of sense, seen in this light too, as a single door that wide would be a problem in any sort of confined space, not to mention the benefit of sharing the hinge load. I'd expect the whole car to be a bit wider than a Series 2 to Defender era Land Rover because cabin width had always been a complaint with those cars (though not from me!). This is looking more and more like a Disco 3/4 with live axles and a more practical build. I really wouldn't mind one!

Ooh, someone needs a lesson in basic mathematics! Say it takes a tree 100 years to mature. Take 1% of the trees in the stand each year and you won't run out of firewood. In my case, I only take windfalls or trees my neighbours cut down for other reasons. I wouldn't actually kill a tree for firewood but I'm happy to steal the fuel before insects and fungi use it. The tree is going to give up it's carbon regardless. I'm pretty sure we're a long way off topic, so I'll leave it here unless poked with a big stick...

Obviously, they would have shopped around and considered every possibility before settling on BMW. Personally, I've long thought a 3litre straight six would be ideal for a Land Rover, so it's nice to see that in this competing vehicle.