All Entries Tagged With: "Production"
61 Yrs: Land Rover Defender
The SVX was the Defender line’s last hurrah
By Gunnar Heinrich
BOLTED together in a fashion so simple that a caveman could do it any able do-it-yourselfer could muster, it’s been said recently that the Land Rover Defender née Land Rover “90″ and “110″ has seen the sun set on it’s long-lived production.
Like some aged British sitcom representing a Thatcherite Britain where Foxhunts and whisky were a way of life neither to be outlawed or overly tariffed, the Defenders were the last stand against an overly modernized “tread lightly” off road campaign across the world. Parked next to a Range Rover Sport or a Land Rover Freelander and you can see where the day’s economic realities lay.
Stateside, there was a period in the 1990s where the Defender 90 proved more the alternative boulevardier in shock yellow or jet black. We can thank Land Rover for providing us with an eye-catchingly rugged alternative to your average Jeep Wrangler. Needless to the say, the Jeep’s longevity outlived the Landie – albeit the Defender and its similar ancestry marked time off road for some 61 years.
That makes the Defender series twice as old Mercedes’ tricenarian Gelaendewagen.
It’s somewhat sad that this news came to us on a Friday night in Autumn’s indifferent cool. One would’ve thought a gala of outdoor festivities would be in order; celebrating the past while positioning for the future.
But since Land Rover has no immediate Defender replacement (suggested 2013), this drab bit of news arrives less as a happy so-long to Landie’s simple terra-firma virtues and more the quiet announcement of a low-key funeral held for an old, but patrotic soldier.
Busy, Busy, Busy: ADL Production Update
By Gunnar Heinrich
DEAREST reader, surely you’ve not thought that I’ve forgotten you?
It’s been a very busy last week and a half for Team ADL. Luckily, our contributors Christopher and Steane have both done their part by pitching in to keep the words rolling forth on these blog pages. Major domos to them.
Triangulating between Gotham, Lime Rock, and Block Island, production has had the crew running in sixth gear @ 6000 RPM. It’s been dense.
Here are a few tasty details…
- SoCal transplant Alexandra Harbushka voyaged with the crew out to Block Island (a six mile wide block of hills and beaches 12 miles off Rhode Island’s shoreline) to lend her consumer’s viewpoint in determining which convertible – the 128i or 328i was the better buy. Mercifully, no moped riders were hurt in the course of taping.
- We wanted to capture a performance comparison test between Richard’s E39 M5 (see M5/M6/550i video) and Hardy’s current gen. 550i. The two sedans’ specs are so close – we figured we’d answer the question that nobody seems to have yet asked but some have surely wondered – would a standard 5-Series now have the capability to beat a previous gen. M car? So, we scheduled time at Lime Rock Park to make that happen. Third lap into the warm up and the M5 lost its brakes. Coming to find out, in a recent service RD’s trusted mechanic forgot to change the fluid. By lap three the liquid in the reservoir simply boiled.
- We then pitted the talented Mr. Drackett and his enflamed 550i against Cadillac’s supercharged, 4.4 Liter, 443 horsepower V8 XLR-V. My uncle, former NHRA record holder Joe Ficca, took the reins of the big Caddy. Several hot laps, plenty of tyre squeal, and some sideways action later – both drivers’ lap times returned just a consistent two second difference. You’ll have to watch the video, to see which car won…
Quick shout outs to the folks at A&M Specialists, BMW NA, GM, Fred Mackerodt, Lime Rock, and the Block Island Chamber of Commerce – without you parking on the island would not have been possible.
