You just had to include the word "competent" didn't you?

 

I admitted that marketing and advertising made "luxury" claims. The vehicle had no such substance. What was luxury about the 1970 model? It was nothing more than a hollow advertising claim. Yes it was more comfortable than a Series, but there wasn't one thing more luxury about it than a VW bug.

It was not until 1984 that the Range Rover ever had leather seats, a upgraded dash pod and door cards with wood trim, which were borrowed from an Austin hatchback and a super-mini economy car. You could call this upmarket push some kind of effort to produce a "luxury" car but I see it as a cheap effort to maintain status-quo.

The revision of history comes in when during the 90's people began to take "luxury 4x4" seriously. It wasn't a joke anymore. Then Land Rover began to claim that they invented this whole category of vehicle with the Range Rover in the beginning. But it was only during this time that they actually adapted their vehicles to fit the new market position.

 

All I know is I looked at a RR in '77 at a local Land Rover dealer, and it seemed quite posh to me.
You can't compare it to a Bentley, Rolls, what have you. You have to compare it to other available 4WD vehicles at the time and I stand by my opinion that it was a luxury 4WD. Not in retrospect, not looking at it with 35 years history of increasing opulence of cars, but at a point in time. 1977. I was there, I saw it, I know what I thought.

 

I have a guy in a small town in NB. Bought a Hawkeye to read the codes on most everything. Will troubleshoot for me, I can do the work, he doesn't mind.
Works out well for me.

 

This depends on the day of the week and what is broken. Some days I hate the whole thing.

 

To each his own. Im just fortunate to say that my sunroofs dont leak, headliner barely sags, 6 disk cd changer works just fine even with all 6 disks in - then again I have 131k. And excuse me if I admire the updated styling cues of the late D2 models. The thicker roof rails make the vehicle look more robust, the updated front end with smaller bumper and fog lights give it a more modern look that I can deal with. I spend alot of time with my truck and UNLIKE many of you folks on here, Im not afraid of having just one vehicle - so the extra interior comforts make a supposedly uncomfortable ride on 1`8" rims much more enjoyable.

Excuse my arguments, I guess some of us here are more enthusiastic about our rovers than others and some of us have been more fortunate with our rovers than others.

 

With all that being said, your headliner still sags. Doesnt matter if its just a little bit. It. Still. Sags.

 

I can honestly say I've never had to deal with the way one of my cars looked.

Don't misunderstand, I adore my Disco. I love so much about it, and I wouldn't rather drive anything else. Except maybe a Defender. Maybe. I am very enthusiastic about it, and it is my only car. But it's not infallible, and some days, when it's giving me trouble, it drives me a little nuts. But even on those days, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

You like the more updated styling of the 04 model, I get that. BUT think about how you express your admiration. You're coming off a bit snooty. A little imperious. It's as if you're saying "Oh, that's too bad you've only got a normal Jaguar XK. I couldn't deal with that. I'VE got an XKR-S."

 

I've never understood the complaints from some owners, last I checked there are no federal mandates to purchase Land Rovers. If it's so terrible, sell it.

But if I had any complaints it would be the location/accsess to the coils and the CPS....apparently Rover thought only person that would want to work on those components would be this guy....

 

Gumby!!!!!!!!!!!