I'm just curious as to why people spend tons of money on such an SUV?? Why the love affair?? I liked Jeep when I was a teen. But when I first saw a series 1, I was hooked on "exotics". Series 109 was the golden fleece for me. I feel like I settled for the Discovery 2. But, I still love her.

 

When it works, 98% of time, it just goes where I point it.

 

There aren't enough words to describe my love for 1948-04 Land Rovers. I've owned Japanese 4x4's, Jeeps, Hummers, 4x4 Fords, and there just isn't anything like a Land Rover. I own 5 currently and if I had the room and $$$$ to allow it I'd own as many as possible.

 

Rides and handles better than a domestic suv, more comfortable interior , just as easy to work on. Aluminum body, will never rust. Super rugged.

 

The overall design is a smash hit for me.. I love it. Always have. Rugged, cool, tall narrow upright design that looks every bit the part of a European body on frame truck.

Dare I say I prefer the 99-02's front end btw.

Other things I enjoy:

The alpine windows
Side opening rear cargo door
Rear spare tire mount
The interior dash, seat & door panel design is masculine, very handsome
Rear overhead nets
Rear stadium-style seating position
Black plastic exterior bits - when in good shape - look very 80's/90's/00's Euro - just before everything began to be painted
Mudflaps flapping at highway speed are a fun visual whenever I see a Disco2
Rear bumper turn signals
My 00 with Lightstone Leather / Bahama Beige panels interior represents just about every shade of tan/beige you might imagine
Rear bumper step on the jumpseat models

 

Agreed with everything said so far.

My first car was an 08’ 4 door wrangler. It was capable, but brutal on the road. It was about 10x worse than a disco in high winds on the interstate. It had all sorts of silly mechanical issues and had 20k miles on it.

I became interested in Discoveries after watching a Wheeler Dealer episode where they fixed on up. It had a stick, and at that time I would only daily something with a manual transmission (Thought I was cool I guess?).

I was looking for an SUV that was off-road capable, so I had to find out of Discoveries were sold with manuals in the US.

I found a super rusty 5 speed 96’ D1. Everything that mattered was better than the Jeep. There was no comparison. I didn’t take great care of it (I was 20 years old... ) and I beat the crap out of it off-road. Piled in 7 folks and tried to get it stuck all the time. I put on new shocks and changed the fluids. Never had a mechanical issue. At that point I had already owned two Alfa Romeos, so I had a lot of tolerance for “reliability.” But the Disco was solid.

I realized as I got older that Discoveries were super popular when I was 6-11 years old. 99’-04’

I think I just loved the way they looked on the road the road and then finding a manual D1 did it for me.

Bur like the other guys said, ride quality is infinitely better than a similar aged domestic or Japanese 4x4. Styling is subjectively, much much more interesting. They have all sorts of weird quirky features that make them interesting.

 

There are those days...when..."why"...is the million dollar question...lol.

But, seriously. They are pretty unique and have a pretty substantial history or lore about them. To me, it's more about the tradition than anything else. It's the "take you anywhere" attitude of the past marketing tools that makes them appealing. They symbolize worldly exploration, adventure...freedom from the ho-hum, everyday, just like everybody elses vehicle trappings. When you stop and look at the history of this vehicle/brand and consider the locations it's laid tire tracks...it's pretty impressive. Major overlands, expeditions to just about every corner of the globe, a name you can say in any country...and it's recognized.

So, this brings us back to the original question...why the Dll?

I believe the Dll resonates with so many folks, cut from a certain clothe, because it is the last of the "true" Land Rovers (besides the Defender of course). Solid axles, build-able body, a ruggedness that still sits firmly juxtaposed to the comfort of modern day SUV and has still maintained the phyiscal appearance of the brand...a box. I know the LR3 and LR4 folks are going to come along and say they're just as build-able and such and such. But, in my opinion...even as good as they are off-road...there has been a gradual softening of the brand and a certain tradition has simmered with each new model. But, that's just me and opinions will always differ.

 

I like driving things other people don't have or see very often. The Disco 2 is such an troublesome vehicle, that mine is the only one left on the road in the town I live in...

 

I think I need some new suspension parts if the consensus is that the ride quality is phenomenal.

 

I like their charm, very simple to work on, very reliable (trust me after 2 brand new 05 Jeep Wranglers that barely made 50k each without a ton of repairs all my LR's have been nearly flawless), all the glass makes the passengers happy and it makes for fun trips, on road handling of the D2 is very good (especially with ACE), SLS is an option that is very handy when towing or hauling heavy loads and when introduced was WAY ahead of it's time.

D1/D2 are just very nicely shaped/designed and I think the interior and dash still looks modern today.