Why do old farts love their Series Land Rovers

[oupa]

I think I have solved that most difficult of questions....no not the meaning of life, or why the chicken crossed the road.

The question that has baffled the wives/husbands, girlfriends/boyfriends, family and friends of old (as well as not so old) farts/ backyard mechanics for decades has been answered.
For years I pondered this problem and in a moment of divine inspiration, the answer came to me.

A Series Land Rover is nothing more than a Meccano set for grown-up children ! [bigsmile]

P.S. If you do not know what a Meccano set is.....I feel sorry for you, as you missed out on one of the true pleasures of youth.:p

[The ho har's]

UUMMM who are you calling old here..

And this wife certainly does know her land rovers:)

certainly are meccano sets aren't they:D

Mrs hh:angel:

proud owner of most of the fleet:o:D:D

[shorty943]

NOW I understand it.
I never had a Meccanno set as a kid, always wanted one though.

Probably why I went into engineering.

[NiteMare]

i love the simplicity of them and the way you can change them about to suit your own desires/needs along with them all having thier own individual characteristics, i don't think i've driven two yet that i can honestly say were the same (although they might look the same)

[Lotz-A-Landies]

UUMMM who are you calling old here..

And this wife certainly does now her land rovers:)

certainly are meccano sets aren't they:D

Mrs hh:angel:

proud owner of most of the fleet:o:D:DShe even knows her Landies as well as owns her Landies. :D

[oupa]

Oh dear, so few posts and I have run into trouble with the Land Rover owners of the female persuasion already....:eek2:
I am ashamed, embarrassed as well as remorseful and I have paid my penance by my original post in bold blue ink!!! :angel:

[jerryd]

I was raised on meccano sets, lego sets and dinky toys :) I suppose you may have a point with your theory oupa


For the younger members .... meccano came in boxes like these

[oupa]

Yes, and Tinker toys......remember them?

[isuzutoo-eh]

I'll swap a number 2 set and a number 10 set for a regoed 2a traytop!

But i'm 'only' 27 so shouldn't know what meccano is :p

[Bearman]

I'll swap a number 2 set and a number 10 set for a regoed 2a traytop!

But i'm 'only' 27 so shouldn't know what meccano is :p

Bet you know what a HO Hornby is;)
Yes, you are too young but you must have been inspired by your father.

[newhue]

I had lego....what happened. Should I sit over there

[Killer]

I had lego....what happened. Should I sit over there

Close enough Jason, you can stay.:)

Cheers, Mick.

[JDNSW]

.......

A Series Land Rover is nothing more than a Meccano set for grown-up children ! [bigsmile]
....

I think you might have a point. Spent much of my childhood building meccano models.

For those who don't know what we are talking about, the Wikipedia article gives a good rundown.

From that account it would seem that Meccano is another English mechanical product that disappeared as the result of mismanagement and union action, like most of the UK car industry.

John

[mick88]

A Series Land Rover is nothing more than a Meccano set for grown-up children ! [bigsmile]


P.S. If you do not know what a Meccano set is.....I feel sorry for you, as you missed out on one of the true pleasures of youth.:p


I have to agree!
Actually still have one here in the original box...almost brand new!

Cheers, Mick

[mick88]

I was raised on meccano sets, lego sets and dinky toys :) I suppose you may have a point with your theory oupa


For the younger members .... meccano came in boxes like these


Hey..don't forget milk from the natural "old fashioned containers" ;)

Cheers, Mick

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Hey..don't forget milk from the natural "old fashioned containers" ;)

Cheers, MickWot plastic bags?

At least for a time starting when I was a teenager our local milk in Nowra came in plastic bags! :o

(Or you earlier could go down to the milking shed and get it in a jug from the vat. )

[oupa]

A time when schools had a yearly fete and if you got there early and you were lucky, you could buy real farm made butter.

[VK3UTE]

My Meccano didn't leave puddles of oil on the ground but:wasntme:

[isuzutoo-eh]

Seriously, if anyone wants a Meccano set, PM me, I know a bloke selling a several complete sets. He's building the Eiffel Tower, comes in around 8' tall, decided to build it one last time before selling the set!

That's one of the troubles with Meccano, it makes big things better than small things. Lego is far more tabletop and small project oriented. Console games don't take space or mark the walls. Can you imagine a kid of today with a 5' boom dragline digging up the backyard or scuffing the walls? Not in the McMansions in my shire!!

[Killer]

Wot plastic bags?

At least for a time starting when I was a teenager our local milk in Nowra came in plastic bags! :o

(Or you earlier could go down to the milking shed and get it in a jug from the vat. )



No...... cows.:D That's what our milk came in anyway.:p

Cheers, Mick

[Ozdunc]

Tonka ( when they were made of steel ), Meccano, Airfix, Land Rover...

all obsessions of an 11 year old boy, and the ability to shut him up for hours
:)

[JDNSW]

Tonka ( when they were made of steel ), Meccano, Airfix, Land Rover...

all obsessions of an 11 year old boy, and the ability to shut him up for hours
:)

Not just boys - I have an eleven year old granddaughter who would love meccano (has built several mechanical models from other kits, but they don't stand up to he six year old sister). I have told her I am not teaching her to drive teh Landrover until her legs are long enough to work the pedals - she is close.

John

[Lotz-A-Landies]

No...... cows.:D That's what our milk came in anyway.:p

Cheers, MickWhen quite young it did or as a teenager could go across the road to the neighbour, but we went to beef (Poll Hereford).

Now most of the herd are the same neighbours weined heiffers while still on calf pellets and before they go out to Cowra to grow up. They return heavy in calf before going into milking.

It's much easier to have the milko deliver it though.

[Ozdunc]

Ahh yes the younger sibling...

I remember getting a new Scalextrix set from Christmas - a figure 8 with banking and F1 cars. I was prob 7 or 8. I'd just got it built and was testing it out when my little brother ran in a jumped on the banking and bent it all up.
Dad tried to reshape it but it was never the same.:(

[ghillie]

Ahh yes the younger sibling...

I remember getting a new Scalextrix set from Christmas - a figure 8 with banking and F1 cars. I was prob 7 or 8. I'd just got it built and was testing it out when my little brother ran in a jumped on the banking and bent it all up.
Dad tried to reshape it but it was never the same.:(


Did your little brother live?:eek:

My brother and I had Scaletrix too. Exactly the same set by your description. We loved it. We also had Meccano, Dinky toys and a windup Hornsby train set. We had an uncle living in Canada and he once sent us a large construction toy each (dump truck and grader I think) I can't remember the brand but I'm sure it wasn't Tonka.

Sadly, all long gone now.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

<snip>... We also had Meccano, Dinky toys and a windup Hornsby train set. We had an uncle living in Canada and he once sent us a large construction toy each (dump truck and grader I think) I can't remember the brand but I'm sure it wasn't Tonka....<snip>https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/05/983.jpg

Although I have caught the train at Hornsby! Not sure if it was a set?

[isuzutoo-eh]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/05/983.jpg

Although I have caught the train at Hornsby! Not sure if it was a set?

If you caught an electric multiple unit then it certainly was a trainset at Hornsby ;)

[Ozdunc]

If you caught an electric multiple unit then it certainly was a trainset at Hornsby ;)

Boom. Boom. Thank you vicar. :D

[Seriestwo]

Well I am only 30 and I am currently on my 3rd series 2. I never had a mechano set but I had lots of lego.

[lane]

I had (well have:D) both Lego and Meccano but found I could build more stuff with Lego. Maybe that accounts for my interest in Landies.:D

Btw I was at a bumper repair place the other day and, lamenting my landy probs and having agreed that they were not the most reliable of vehicles was asked, "You know they have lots of problems so why did you buy one." Non Landy owners will never understand.;)

Lane

[goingbush]

Landrovers are of course Exactly like Meccano Sets.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

http://goingbush.com/landy/1085.jpg

http://goingbush.com/landy/1084.jpg

[oupa]

Outstanding. :eek2:

Knew my theory was right!!!![biggrin]

[The ho har's]

Landrovers are of course Exactly like Meccano Sets.

http://goingbush.com/landy/101.jpg


I hope you don't mind but can I save this pic. Do you have a closer pic if the Rapier Missile Launcher in the background?

We have an interest in 101's:D:cool:

Mrs hh:angel:

[goingbush]

I hope you don't mind but can I save this pic. Do you have a closer pic if the Rapier Missile Launcher in the background?

We have an interest in 101's:D:cool:

Mrs hh:angel:

Nice work, I agree.

I found those meccano LR pics on google, I saved them myself because these things have a habit of disappearing

here is the missile trailer

http://goingbush.com/landy/rapier.jpg

[land864]

I had a sticker on my Series 3 109 wagon that read.

Older , unreliable , outdated and fun.

So is the Landy! :D;)

[VK3UTE]

How cool is the 101, winch and all!

Capstan on the series too.

Love it:D

[The ho har's]

How cool is the 101, winch and all!

Capstan on the series too.

Love it:D


Yep googled it and got the site, the person is an absolute landy tragic (there is someone worse than us:p) with the amount of pages he has on them:o:D he obviously lives in the UK;)

Mrs hh:angel:

[austastar]

Hi,
I have been fascinated by them since I read "Warriors on Wheels" and "First Overland" as a school kid.
It took a bit of a whack out of my Super, but I've at last managed to get a Puma.

I'd love a series, but the divorce would make the price too high.

cheers

[VK3UTE]

Get the series I say

The choice is clear I think:wasntme:

[mick88]

Get the series I say

The choice is clear I think:wasntme:

I agree!
Eighteen months ago I purchased a 1971 2A from a guy in Melbourne.
He purchased the vehicle new, and he had also married around the same time. His wife left him after ten years but the trusty Land Rover stayed around for 39 years!
Doesn't that tell you something ;)

Cheers, Mick.

[4bee]

There was a Meccano type set made here in SA. Possibly made under licence.
It was made by Colton Palmer & Preston & was called the EZY bilt, component colours were red, green & silver but I always yearned for a ridgydidge Meccano, but alas, never had one, just the EZY bilt sets.

http://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?c=4248

[MJKMS]

I had (well have:D) both Lego and Meccano but found I could build more stuff with Lego. Maybe that accounts for my interest in Landies.:D

Btw I was at a bumper repair place the other day and, lamenting my landy probs and having agreed that they were not the most reliable of vehicles was asked, "You know they have lots of problems so why did you buy one." Non Landy owners will never understand.;)

Lane

Some Land Rovers have been "unreliable" for sixty years, isn't that an oxymoron or is it a paradox?

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Some Land Rovers have been "unreliable" for sixty years, isn't that an oxymoron or is it a paradox?So you're suggesting the paradox is that Land Rovers have lasted unreliably for 64 years while other more reliable vehicles didn't last! :confused:

Do you know anyone who hasn't been able to get themselves home in a series Landy? As in the Top Gear South American episode, the most unreliable car ever, the Range Rover, turned out to be the most reliable. In which case Land Rover unreliability is more myth than fact!

(However with Clarkson's love of RR, it was scripted well before they left the UK.)

[Mick_Marsh]

Got to say, I had to walk home sixteen kilometres one night. In the light of the next morning, it was found to be a blown fuse that was taped into the loom by a previous owner.
And then there was the time it made nasty noises and I left it at a mechanics over a hundred kilometres from home. The mechanic told me some idiot put gear oil in the transfer case.
So, in those two cases, I was not able to get myself home in the Landy but it wasn't the Landy's fault.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Got to say, I had to walk home sixteen kilometres one night. In the light of the next morning, it was found to be a blown fuse that was taped into the loom by a previous owner.
And then there was the time it made nasty noises and I left it at a mechanics over a hundred kilometres from home. The mechanic told me some idiot put gear oil in the transfer case.
So, in those two cases, I was not able to get myself home in the Landy but it wasn't the Landy's fault.Sounds like an LT95 to me, so was this a series Landy or not.

However outside mechanical incompetence which will disable even the most reliable marque. No offence to you, a blown (hidden) fuse, should have been able to be identified should you have had the absolute/life threatening need and time in the middle of nowhere and not been as close to home so you could walk there even if it was 16 km.

It would be the same if someone blamed running out of fuel on the vehicle instead of their stupidity of having sufficient for the trip. Although in your case it was a previous owner's mechanicing that left you stranded and not the original design of the vehicle by Rover.

[Mick_Marsh]

No offence taken.

Although in your case it was a previous owner's mechanicing that left you stranded and not the original design of the vehicle by Rover.
No it wasn't. It was a learning experience. Just because it has gears does not mean one uses gear oil.
LT95 it is. 'twas original to the donor SIII Stage 1 body on the hybrid. Still a series in my books.
Funny thing though, some time after I bought it I met some people manning a stand at a 4WD show who knew the vehicle. They jokingly asked me how many things had fallen off it as every time the previous owner had taken it out something would fall off it. "None. It has been a very good vehicle." was my reply. They then told me the previous owner had bought a Patrol and every time he took it out something would fall off it.

[MJKMS]

So you're suggesting the paradox is that Land Rovers have lasted unreliably for 64 years while other more reliable vehicles didn't last! :confused:

Do you know anyone who hasn't been able to get themselves home in a series Landy? As in the Top Gear South American episode, the most unreliable car ever, the Range Rover, turned out to be the most reliable. In which case Land Rover unreliability is more myth than fact!

(However with Clarkson's love of RR, it was scripted well before they left the UK.)

A paradox is a statement that in its self is a contradiction or which defies logic or reason. As in stating that some thing that has lasted 64 years has been unreliable. Unreliable things don't last very long around here I can tell you the much. I've owned my 2a for over 20 years, and she was 20 when I got her.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

A paradox is a statement that in its self is a ...<snip>I would argue that it's not a paradox, the Land Rover unreliability is a myth.

It is a myth perpetrated by people purchasing an ego statement and not spending their hard earned on maintaining their ego statement the way machines need to be maintained.

That's it, in itself!

[reg of the overflow]

i do agree with Oupa's summation, but to me, they are the personification of everything i am - simple, basic and stubborn. If i was ever going to be a car, a Series SWB is what i'd be :)

[ezyrama]

i do agree with Oupa's summation, but to me, they are the personification of everything i am - simple, basic and stubborn. If i was ever going to be a car, a Series SWB is what i'd be :)

Couldnt agree with you more Reg, just have one more word to add though,
FUN!

[Blknight.aus]

Landrovers are NOTHING like meccano

I've built several dozen meccano sets and

1. All the holes are in a nice even pattern, all the same size all the same spacing
2. When you put the kits together you cant reach your hand into some of the gaps in the panel work
3. no roof ever cracked off on any of the vehicle models
4. When I was working on meccano stuff at no point did I ever have to stop, look at the fixtures, ponder the tool box and ask myself now is that one metric, imperial, whitworth or BSP?
5. None of the meccano sets I build leaked oil.

[101 Ron]

Well as a kid I had lego and meccano.
But I am a bit shy and personal about the real reason I like early landies.
Well I am sort of hooked...........I love the smell of freshly filed or welded Birmabrite

No other vehicles use birmabrite.