Patrick Cruywagen
“I drove over 200 miles in my old 1998 Defender to get to this assignment,” says Patrick. “And you know what? I loved every single millimetre of the drive. There is something pure and raw about driving an old Defender. You will never be able to take that away from anyone. Just saying.
“The New Defender might be the most capable Land Rover ever made but just how much capability does one need? And more importantly, at what cost? A decent Tdi 110 should be around £10,000 max while a new Defender 110 starts at £45,000. The new Defender is everything mine is not: handles well on tar, cosy and warm inside, no leaks, and more tech than the first craft to land on the moon. I am sorry but real men and women don’t need all of those things.
“If the script writers at BBC’S Top Gear wanted to make an award winning episode they should take a convoy of Tdi Defenders and put them up against a convoy of New Defenders on a brutal and punishing forest expedition. It would certainly help us answer the above question.
“I really don’t think we will suddenly see loads of new Defenders taking on the Simpson Desert or the extreme sand dunes of Namibia. The new Defender is aimed at an all-together different type of customer, one who likes the finer and more expensive things in life. Not one who will take three months off to drive from Singapore to London. Gone are the days where Defenders were purchased in large numbers by safari companies or the military. Land Rover has purposefully taken the utility out of the Defender, you can maybe get away with that on the G4 Challenge but not on the Camel Trophy.
“Land Rover brand ambassador Kingsley Holgate will be driving two new sponsored Defenders from South Africa to the UK as soon as the African borders open up again. If the Land Rover PR team are reading this then please get him to do some live videos of him servicing and doing software updates via the internet. If successful, it might convince one or two diehard old Defender fans that the new one is not just a pretender but a real Defender.
“So to answer the question, if it was a Land Rover sponsored Camel Trophy or any other extreme event then yes, give me a new Defender or a full-fat Range Rover. But if I had to pay for the Defender and the repairs, then a 300Tdi with a driver made of the right stuff and the right gear can go anywhere the new Defender can.”