Thread: % of Landies still going vs % of Cruisers

Adopting my best Jeremy Clarkson accent:

"Some people say 71% ... others say 69%"

There are lies, damned lies, and statistics

Originally Posted by doogs911

I saw on an old episode of Top Gear that they reckon 70% of all Land Rovers ever built are still kickin'. One of my mates who has no affiliation with either always goes on to me about Land Cruiser's reliability and Land Rovers lack thereof and I need some ammunition to prove they're not so bad, so if anyone by any chance knows what percentage of Cruisers ever built are still going, please tell me!

Thanks.

So he has never owned a Landy, or a Cruiser yet he can waffle on crap about nothing he knows anything about.

Sounds like a stereotypical drinking buddy.

Anyway the percentage of original unrestored, yet still registered and regularly driven cruisers both on and off the road is................................................ .................. a lot less than 70%.

History

Land Rover Series I



Land Rover Series IIa Series 88


The first Land Rover was designed in 1948 in the United Kingdom (on the island of Anglesey in Wales) by Maurice Wilks, chief designer at the British car company Rover on his farm in Newborough, Anglesey[11]. It is said that he was inspired by an American World War II Jeep that he used one summer at his holiday home in Wales. The first Land Rover prototype 'centre steer' was built on a Jeep chassis. A distinctive feature is their bodies, constructed of a lightweight rustproof proprietary alloy of aluminium and magnesium called Birmabright. This material was used owing to post war steel shortages and a plentiful supply of post-war aircraft aluminium. This metal's resistance to corrosion was one of the factors that allowed the vehicle to build up a reputation for longevity in the toughest conditions. It is reckoned that 75% of all those ever built are still in use. In fact, Land Rover drivers[12] sometimes refer to other makes of 4x4 as "disposables". The early choice of colour was dictated by military surplus supplies of aircraft cockpit paint, so early vehicles only came in various shades of light green; all models until recently feature sturdy box section ladder-frame chassis.
The early vehicles, such as the Series I, were field-tested at Long Bennington and designed to be field-serviced; advertisements for Rovers cite vehicles driven thousands of miles on banana oil. Now with more complex service requirements this is less of an option. The British Army maintains the use of the mechanically simple 2.5 litre 4 cylinder 300TDi engined versions rather than the electronically controlled 2.5 litre 5 cylinder TD5 to retain some servicing simplicity. This engine also continued in use in some export markets using units built at a Ford plant in Brazil, where Land Rovers were built under license and the engine was also used in Ford pick-up trucks built locally. Production of the TDi engine ended here in 2006, meaning that Land Rover no longer offers it as an option. International Motors of Brazil offer an engine called the 2.8 TGV Power Torque, which is essentially a 2.8-litre version of the 300TDi, with a corresponding increase in power and torque. All power is combined with an All-Terrain Traction Control which gives active terrain response; Ferrari uses a similar system in race traction.
Since its purchase by Ford, Land Rover has been closely associated with Jaguar. In many countries they share a common sales and distribution network (including shared dealerships), and some models now share components and production facilities.

simple, take him for a drive past a wreckers and ask him to count the number of toyotas in there VS the number of landrovers...

unless its a specialist rover wrecking yard you laughing...


if you really want to skew it pick one that specialises in toyotas but dont tell him that.

References

1. <LI id=cite_note-ford_20080326-0>^ a b c Ford Motor Company (2008-03-26). "FORD MOTOR COMPANY ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT TO SELL JAGUAR LAND ROVER TO TATA MOTORS". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-03-27. <LI id=cite_note-1>^ Tata Motors (2008-03-26). "Tata Motors enters into Definitive Agreement with Ford for purchase of Jaguar Land Rover". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-03-27. <LI id=cite_note-r_20080602-2>^ a b c "Tata Motors completes acquisition of Jag, Land Rover", Thomson Reuters (June 2, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-06-02. <LI id=cite_note-3>^ Forbes India's Tata confirms interest in Land Rover, Jaguar <LI id=cite_note-4>^ CNN India's Tata eyeing Jaguar and Land Rover <LI id=cite_note-5>^ JCB's Sir Anthony Bamford eyes Jaguar - 24/08/2006 - Contract Journal <LI id=cite_note-6>^ JCB will not buy Jaguar - 16/10/2006 - Contract Journal <LI id=cite_note-7>^ "Tata set to clinch the Jaguar-Land Rover deal: Report", Press Trust of India (2007-12-20). Retrieved on 2007-12-20. <LI id=cite_note-8>^ "Ford set to pick Jaguar frontrunner in days: source", Reuters (2007-12-17). Retrieved on 2007-12-18. <LI id=cite_note-9>^ "5 for 2 special: Tata acquires 3 other British marques in Jaguar, Land Rover deal". Leftlane News (28 March 2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-28. <LI id=cite_note-10>^ Article on page M5 of The Daily Telegraph entitled "The sands of time" by Kevin Hackett about Wilkes' protype (Issue 47,531, dated 29th March 2008) <LI id=cite_note-11>^ .net report that 75% of Land Rovers ever built are still in use <LI id=cite_note-12>^ Land Rover. "Sixty Years and Four Million Vehicles: Milestones of Land Rover's History". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-04-06. <LI id=cite_note-13>^ BBC NEWS | Business | BMW, Ford seal Land Rover deal <LI id=cite_note-14>^ India's Tata confirms interest in Land Rover, Jaguar - Forbes.com <LI id=cite_note-LMS-15>^ Bob Morrison: Land Rovers in military service, Brooklands Books 1993, ISBN 1-85520-205-0 <LI id=cite_note-16>^ Shorland.info <LI id=cite_note-17>^ "Most & least reliable brands - 950,000 readers tell which products really last", Consumer Reports, May 2007, p. 12 <LI id=cite_note-18>^ Lynn Bowles - Mac4x4 - Land Rover Enthusiast Article <LI id=cite_note-19>^ Heritage Land Rover Weekend
2. ^ Brit town protests "Stornoway Grey" Land Rovers

[edit] External links

• Land Rover VIN codes on Wikibooks
• Official Land Rover Website
• Official Land Rover Experience Website
• Land Rover Clubs at the Open Directory Project
• Official Land Rover UK Website at the Open Directory Project

a·poc·ry·phal Audio Help/əˈpɒkrəfəl/Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[uh-pok-ruh-fuhl]Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective 1.of doubtful authorship or authenticity. 2.Ecclesiastical. a.(initial capital letter) of or pertaining to the Apocrypha. b.of doubtful sanction; uncanonical. 3.false; spurious: He told an apocryphal story about the sword, but the truth was later revealed.
[Origin: 1580–90; apocryph(a) + -al1]

Who knows where the truth lies.

As somone here once said:

Who did the counting: those people wearing fluorescent vests sitting at intersections with clickers ?

The figure is probably correct - and meaningless (in the context of the question), because more than 70% of all Landrovers were built quite recently - think Discovery and Freelander.

If considering only "traditional" Landrovers and Landcruisers, it is very difficult to get any meaningful figures - registration figures would be meaningless, because there are a lot of both workling away on farms unregistered. But bearing in mind that Landrovers predate Landcruisers by nearly ten years, and there are still quite a few pre-1953 Landrovers going, if you look at, say, pre-1960, there would be far more Landrovers than Landcruisers still about (virtually no Landcruisers were imported here until the mid sixties). In fact, I can't remember when I last saw a pre-1970 Landcruiser, and (apart from my own) I saw one Landrover pre-1970 in town today.

So overall, my impression is that there are far more very old Landrovers about than very old Landcruisers - but of course this says nothing about longevity in comparison - mainly that before about 1970 Landrovers outsold Landcruisers.

You could look at the army Landrovers in current service - average age is probably close to twenty years, maybe even more, and they certainly seem to keep going - and twenty year old Landcruisers are not exactly common.

John

Further to JD's salient facts.

I find it rare to spot a pre mid 70's cruiser these days (usually shorties).
The can't be said for old Landies.