I have played around with idea of getting a LHD TDI Disco out of Spain, shipping is not too bad about 2500 CDN. My issue a trustworthy exporter and of course my wife indicating why ? Apparently explaining how I would never think about the engine is not a selling point.

 

Being a Land Rover enthusiast you are always on the lookout for other Land Rovers on the streets, in parking lots, in movies and tv shows.

 

Land Rovers became my obsession when I was young living in Uganda. Once I could afford one, I bought a used 02 Disco - loved it. But, as ZGPhoto stated, and I agree, the Disco is a gateway Rover. I collected a '63 Series IIa, a '67 Series IIa diesel, and a '74 RHD 2-door RRC with a 200 Tdi over the last 15 years as part of my retirement hobby. Now I'm retired and am digging into them. I'm more of a hack now but am getting better everyday especially with the experts on this forum.

 

I look at the Dll as more of a transitional vehicle...moving away from the traditional rugged/utilitarian to a more comfortable/modern vehicle...but...still retaining the classic styling. And, if it were the "gateway" vehicle for LR...no wonder they don't do to well in the states. Face it, many folks got a sour taste in their mouths from these things...to the point they (LR) had to change the name.

Yes, there is a love of these Land Rovers, whatever the model, but the love must run deep...or it ends in a divorce quite quickly.

 

D2 are very confortable compared to a defender im told several times.
Love the Look of the disco 2. Series are cool to look at but not practical for everyday use
defenders are nice specially with the diesel
I would never buy anything newer even though the lr3 are nice
kinda like Subaru after the 2008 new body style. Can’t stand them.

 

To me, the D2 is the pinnacle of a Defender that is not a utilitarian vehicle. Which is cool, but I want to drive faster than 55, and not bounce around. Still has the seating position and I love the looks.

I do like other LR vehicles, and would like to have an old Supercharged RR. D2 for winter and camping.

Ford's new Bronco kicked the Defender's butt. It's sweet. And the features are awesome, but they did steal LR head designer when they sold LR.

I like the new Defender, but don't love it.

 

Defenders are awesome and very basic, but they are not what I would call comfortable. You basically ride up against an aluminum door in a very small and basic seat that doesn't have lumbar or any kind of real adjustments. That's why LR created the Range Rover Classic = to be the best it could be off road while being very comfortable on road. Not to mention a design that to this day still looks beautiful. The Discovery was created as a combo of the RRC with a more basic approach like the Defender. That's why it got the alpine windows in the rear, stadium seating for the back passengers (something no other 4x4 SUV I've ever been in has which makes riding in the back have an awesome forward view), and the large rear cargo door with the spare tire mounted on it. LR took the guts of the proven RRC/Defender and created the Discovery. It not only saved LR $$$$$ on development but it also make it easier for LR to concentrate on the Discovery design and get it into production.




The very first Land Rover Discovery I ever saw was in the movie Sniper with Tom Berenger and Billy Zane. It was an earlier like 89 3dr model, and I remember it pulling up in a hurry, the rear cargo door opening and 2 bad guys jumping out with weapons. It was then I discovered the Discovery had Defender style inward facing jump seats! After that LR San Antonio threw a massive party in 94 welcoming the 94 D90 and 94 D1. It was a party I'll never forget and they had 2-3 D1's there and upon sitting in one and looking it over from head to toe I knew one day I'd have one of my own.

I'd say 45% of all Discovery 1/2 sales went to people that were clueless about owning a British 4x4. They treated them like they were Honda's aka = totally neglected any kind of maintenance. Then they complained about the high repair cost and of coarse the LR name got knocked down in the USA. The D1/D2 is 16-26 years old now and I still see plenty of them running around. Something I can't really say about the same year Isuzu Trooper, Mitsubishi Montero, Nissan Pathfinder, or Chevy S10 Blazer. The worse LR ever to hit our shores = The Land Rover Freelander aka BMW's contribution to LR... It was so bad the company making the petrol engines completely stopped making them! In the UK the Freelander wasn't as nearly as bad due to having a diesel engine. I have seen several Freelander's for sale including a rare Kalahari 3dr, but I've yet to see one driving down the road!

The newer LR's after say the LR4 I don't really care for. The D5 is just nasty and it does resemble a Ford Explorer way more than an older Discovery/LR3/LR4. The rear hatch/gate makes me vomit with it's poor attempt at trying to match the original D1/D2 door glass angle. My wife saw one the other day for the first time and she immediately came home to tell me how thankful she was that she had an LR3 vs that ugly thing. That's saying a lot cause my wife had a love/hate relationship with her LR3 lol. I've seen several D5's off road, and while they did good off road I just can't own something I would get out of and not look back at it. Every single time I get into a RRC/D1/D2/D90 and take it to the store or a test drive for a customer I always look forward to passing a milk truck, a building with a large glass window store front, or when I park it, I get out walk about 30ft and just look back and smile. No other brand of vehicles has ever made me do that!

Heck my wife drives a brand new 2020 Kia Forte GT (aka mini Stinger) and it's a very beautiful and well designed sports sedan with tons of design features, but I have yet to get out, walk 30ft and look back at it and smile.

Land Rover's are kind of a life changing thing for me. When I was maybe 14 my mom got her hands on an absolutely beautiful white 89 RRC in mint condition. My brother and I had always seen those cool RRC ad's in the 4Wheeler Magazine my dad used to get and we were like whoa what is that. Then of coarse we saw a few in movies like James Bond and that was my Poster vehicle as a kid. Not a Porsche or a Lambo, but a Land Rover. Then we watched "The Gods Must Be Crazy" and all the National Geographic shows with Series LR's out in the bush. When my mom got that LR of coarse we had to go down to the LR dealership a few times for some accessories, and to get a few things fixed. That is where I met one of my best friends of my life. He was a young LR mechanic and had probably just started there maybe 3 months. My mom had the steering wheel actually come off after we left the dealership when another tech had left off the nut holding the steering wheel on after replacing the spiral cassette for the cruise control...... My mom was able to get the RRC back to the San Antonio LR dealership and when she went back there looking for the tech that had worked on her RRC this tall and skinny guy came out (6ft 7inches) named Ken. The tech which had worked on our RRC had gone to lunch. Ken said he'd look at it, and I'll never forget my mom being 5ft 2inches with the seat pretty far up, and Ken jumped in there without moving the seat back. His knee's were up against his ears almost lol. He couldn't believe the nut wasn't there, but he found one, fixed us up, and said from now on to come see him. After that we'd drive out to his house and he'd work on it during the weekend. A few years passed and I had moved to Austin and we'd kinda lost touch with Ken because my brother and I were able to do all the repairs on the RRC by then.

I had a 01 Nissan Xterra (only lemon I've ever owned) and it acted up one more time, so I went to the 7/11 and grabbed a drink and on the way out the door I saw one of those used car free books by the door. I grabbed it and a Rio Red D1 was on the cover for 13K. I said hmmmm a D1! I have always wanted a D1! So I drove my POS Xterra down to that Toyota Dealership (where the D1 was) and I drove off with the D1 taking a 10K loss on the Xterra. That was fine however because I knew I had something much much more special! Well on the way home I decided to go by LR Austin for some floor mats and a hat lol. When all of a Sudden Ken stuck his head out from behind the counter!! He gave me a big old hug (since he was 6ft 7inches he could pick me up off the ground lol something he still does!!). He asked what I was doing there, and I said I'd just bought a 97 D1. He said to give him the keys and he'd put it up on the rack to look it over. I said sure why not! He then came back and said my cats were rattling, and I needed to replace them. I said I just bought it and don't have that kind of cash right now. He said do you have 30min to an hour to wait? I said sure, and he said oh if not we can provide you with a loaner so you can go home and when it's ready just come back with the loaner and pick it up. I was kinda shocked getting the royal treatment since I didn't actually buy it from LR Austin, but that is how LR treats it's customers unlike say Jeep! Well an hour later I see my D1 fly around the corner (RRC/D1/D2/D90) all have a very distinctive V8 sound/exhaust note), and it vanished. Ken found me and said well you're all fixed up. I went to the cashier, and she had me sign the paperwork. I saw a total of nearly 3,200.00 on the paperwork, and then down at the bottom it said "customer to pay" 0.00, they did 2 free service campaigns, and since my D1 only had 48K on it the cats were replaced under warranty for free. It was then fully and professionally detailed inside and out, and when it was presented to me it looked better than a new one! I was completely in shock to be honest, and from that point on I would meet Ken and his best friend Billy for lunch every day. We've now been friends for 28 years! I no longer live in Austin, but they now own/work at Austin Roverworks and I usually take 1 week a year of vacation, and just go up there and help them work on LR's, hang out, and just have fun. I also go up whenever I can just to hang out.

So Land Rover's mean a lot to me from being unique and special vehicles, to great experiences, and 2 of the best friends I could ever dream of having for life. Since then I've now owned 20+ LR's and to date not a single one of them has ever treated me bad. I enjoy helping as many people as possible with their LR's online/in person, and I want to keep as many LR's on the road as I can.

Not to mention LR's involvement with the Camel Trophy back in the day! The RRC/Defender/D1's were awesome in those hardcore events.

 

Funny, went for a ride today and saw a GMC Jimmy, 4 door...had a 92...forgot how tinny they were.

Nice read Best!

I believe the Dll or Dl are probably one of the best, if not the best, vehicle LR ever made, maybe not mechanically, but overall usability wise. Retains an awesome amount of storage space, great design externally and internally, and very comfortable to drive any distance.

To me...the Dll is the thoroughbred that wins the Kentucky derby rain or shine...and the Defender is the one that works the track before the race.

 

Yeah those S10/Blazer/Jimmy's were small! I used to know a guy that had the last year of the 2DR ZR2 and he had it built up very nice. You couldn't kill those 4.3L V6 engines. I remember my dad liking them after a Superbowl commercial and he raced down to see one in person. The first words out of his mouth was dang it's tiny lol! He ended up going for a 4x4 Tahoe instead & absolutely loved it for many many many many years. Only thing that fell apart quickly were the poorly made so called leather seats.

 

I know I am odd, but I want a D127/130 ambulance to build into the ultimate offroad camper. Failing that, an FC101.

Having said that, I have no urge to own a RR or any of the newer LRs. It's a Disco life for me!