Compliments

[jimr1]

G'day one and all . As we all know Defenders are no longer made . I have had 5 people approach me , complement me on my 110 . Telling they don't make them any more , Servo's the most , then Bunnings . I also have an Indian driving a Prado next to me at the lights , smiling then put the thumbs up at the 110 . At least I think that's what he meant ! lol..The point is there seems to be more interest in Defenders now , than before they stopped making them !!.. Jim :):)

[Andrew86]

I've been surprised by the amount of air time the end of production has had over here in the media. There was a great picture of a Heritage 90 splashed across the front page of the motoring section in yesterday's West Australian, and inside was a nice write up of the Land Rover/Defender's history. It's nice to see.

I must admit, when the clocked ticked over on Friday afternoon and the last car rolled off the line, I did think a little differently about my own car. Now that they aren't available to buy anymore, I think we've all taken on a little extra responsibility to look after our buses. We're not so much owners of these cars now, but rather custodians of historical masterpieces :D:D

Ok, I'm getting carried away. There's no doubt they're just a little bit more special now, though and we are the lucky few.

[Andy130]

Yes, I have to agree. Im restoring a 130 at the moment and have been for the past few months - but in the past week ive had close to 10 people walk past and then stop in to talk about defenders and ask lots of questions - previously it was only a few local Landy nuts who dropped in to say G'day.

[steane]

In my experience there has always been plenty of interest in Defenders. Most times I'm out driving I get a thumbs up, a wave, a smile or have a chat with someone that has shown some interest.

Last time I took it out I was towing the boat out on the Northern Express Way and a woman sped up to pull alongside and give me a smile and thumbs up.

It's just business as usual ;)

Big sales month for the Defender in January. They sold 87!!! Which is 50 more than they did the previous January...

Defenders are much loved but not many people love them enough to buy a new one.

[karlz]

On almost a daily occurence I get either a chat, a thumbs up, gawkers or people pointing.

There was once a bloke who parked his new porsche near the defender down at Flinders. You should have seen all the people walking around my car. (mine was only a month old).

Yesterday I went to the bottle shop and the bloke there chatted to me about the defender for ages, ignoring the other customers. He asked if they are like trucks, or are comfortable. I said, "Well they are better riding than a Hilux" and he was amazed!!! .

[Col 110]

So - I go out to a Land Rover Experience Day and people have their photo taken leaning against my Defender :cool:
I see that as a compliment!

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/02/791.jpg

I am also finding myself in car parks (Bunnings is a classic) talking to people about the Defender being 'End Of Life' - funny how they always ask how old old mine is (it is less than six months old) :o

[ProjectDirector]

The best one I had so far, while waiting at traffic lights at a Pascoe Vale T intersection a tradie next to me comes out with his smart phone and asks me for a photo. Didn't have a lot of time to react so I said go for it, so he steps right in front of my defender and snaps a couple. I thought only my son will do this routine for exotic European sports cars [emoji3]

[debruiser]

So - I go out to a Land Rover Experience Day and people have their photo taken leaning against my Defender :cool:
I see that as a compliment!

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/02/791.jpg

I am also finding myself in car parks (Bunnings is a classic) talking to people about the Defender being 'End Of Life' - funny how they always ask how old old mine is (it is less than six months old) :o

Then there's that guy who took a photo of a guy taking a photo of a 3rd guy leaning on someone elses car! hahahahah :D:D:D:D:D:D


Seriously though, up here in Mackay it's really very much Toyota/Nissan country and I never saw very many Defenders around. When I got my first one all my mates laughed at me but more recently there seems to be a few more around and other ppl are paying more attention to them, even waving. Had a wave from some random in some plastic Japanese car the other day.... was odd.

[rick130]

Parked around Canberra people just walk up and start talking about the Deefer.

I was sitting in a cafe at Lyneham a few weeks back and a thirty something bloke, his wife and child in a stroller walked past and then circled the Defender for about ten minutes.
I could hear him tell his wife "that's a 130 crew cab, it's a proper Defender..." and his wife pointed out the tyres "yes, they're 255/85's !"
He crawled over and under it.

Last week outside the same cafe an ex-Vitenam vet bailed me up regaling me with stories of South Vietnam in Series IIa's and how much he loved the 130.

A few months ago a twenty something woman in a Juicy camper Tarago was taking an Iphone vid as they went past on the Hume Hwy.
And did it again about half an hour later as they rolled past again !

I wonder if the D3/4 boys get that sort of interest and reaction ? :angel: