BMW, new Defender and life
“I know that emotion should have no place in the debate, but personally I’m far happier with JLR teaming up with BMW than PSA”
AFTER all the noise in the media about PSA being in advanced negotiations with JLR regarding a takeover or some kind of joint venture, it’s all gone rather quiet. Or at least it has as I’m writing this column. But it did lead to a lot of debate in the press about the vast investments needed to develop EDUS and ACES (that’s Electric Drive Units and Automated, Connected, Electric, Shared vehicles). Most pundits were of the view that this would force more consolidation in the global car industry because the only logical way forward is for manufacturers to share the costs, and some commentators even went as far as to suggest that JLR could not survive without something like the PSA deal.
So it was interesting to learn that JLR and BMW are going to collaborate on these things, sharing their technology and the development costs. I know that emotion should have no place in the debate, but personally I’m far happier with JLR teaming-up with BMW than I would have been if they’d got into bed with PSA.
Meanwhile, I hear that the press shoots for the new Defender have been taking place in various locations around the world, and September seems to be the month we’ve all been waiting for. I for one can’t wait, and everyone I’ve spoken to who has seen and driven the new vehicle has been blown away by its capability, and full of praise for the Defender DNA that it apparently has in spades.
I’m waiting with bated breath because my Range Rover L322 experience is wearing a bit thin at the moment, not least because of our recent suspension failure in Ireland, and the idea of trading it in for a new Defender has started to take root. Don’t get me wrong, the 322 is undoubtedly a phenomenal motor car and it impresses me greatly. I still get a childish delight when I fill up with diesel and the digital dashboard announces that I have a range of over 600 miles before I need to refuel. For me, one of life’s little pleasures has always been a full tank and a long drive ahead of me, and the fact that I can drive that far without refuelling is still a wonderful novelty!
But I just can’t get comfortable with all the on-board tech. Which is exactly what various people told me would be the case when I bought the car, as they all reminded me with smug delight that I am, in fact, a total dinosaur. Will the new Defender provide an alternative answer, or will it also be loaded with tech? I know it’s hardly reasonable to compare a full-fat Range Rover L322 with the new Defender, but I’m hoping it might at least be an option to consider.
Meanwhile, my first-gen Range Rover 300Tdi soldiers on. If I’m honest, it has proven to be overall the most reliable Land Rover I’ve ever owned, and is now approaching 200,000 miles. It sailed through its MOT a month or two ago with no advisories, and at its pre-mot service there were no unexpected surprises. I’ve become quite determined to keep it going and blast my way through the 200k. Darryl at Dunsfold DLR, who does all the servicing on it, is encouraging me to aim much higher and go for the 250k. I’m warming to the idea, and with none of the terminal chassis and body rot that usually kills a first-generation Range Rover, I’m going to try to keep the old girl going.
The 1970 Press Launch Range Rover has also performed perfectly during its outings so far this year, including a couple of trips to the excellent Sunday Scramble gathering at Bicester Heritage, and a drive to the Midlands to spend another fascinating day in the reading room at the British Motor Museum archives, delving into the files for information on my recently-acquired Stage One 88-inch.
After I wrote about the 88 in this column a month or two ago, Philip Bashall and I were delighted to hear from the owner of the other surviving Stage One 88 Station Wagon in the UK, and by the time you read these words I hope to have been to see him to have a look at his vehicle. And just as these conversations were taking place, in one of those bizarre coincidences that happen so often in Land Rover life, we were contacted by a guy in Trinidad who has just bought an 88-inch Station Wagon as a restoration project for himself and his son. Raymond’s cunning plan is that once it’s back on the road the 88 will be his son’s first car. Lucky lad!
But what was confusing Raymond was the VIN on his Station Wagon, which indicated that it was a two and a quarter petrol, whereas he was gazing at a V8 under the bonnet. My newlyacquired information from the BMM archives confirmed that Raymond’s Land Rover was one of the 24 V8s delivered to Trinidad that were supposedly ordered by a Caribbean police force and subsequently cancelled.
Raymond has become as intrigued as I am about this alleged police order and is now using his local contacts to find out more, so we may at last get to the truth of what went on regarding the production batch of Stage One 88s.
Gary Pusey is co-author of Range Rover The First Fifty, trustee of The Dunsfold Collection and a lifelong Land Rover enthusiast. What this man doesn’t know, isn’t worth knowing!