MOTOR CHAT

we had an old ex fire service one at work
it was okay off road (it got used on the test ranges) , but was not much use for going anywhere ,about 45 flat out noisy and bloody cold in the winter
we now have a 110 defender and thats not much better

quirky summer Sunday afternoon fun type of vehicle

From my experience, the dream is much better than the reality!

So i'm in for a shock switching from a 7 series Beemer

I used to drive an old 1970's one when I lived up north. Agricultural would have been a compliment to the gearbox. Unstoppable when you got of tarmac but not much use as a daily driver.

However a friend had an very old series 1 that he was driving when he was t-boned by a truck. He came away with a broken leg, the rescue guys that were there said if it hadn't been an old LAnd Rover with a seperate chassis he would have been dead.

jimihendrix":2e2u7do7 said:

So i'm in for a shock switching from a 7 series Beemer

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Well at least it will move in the wet and ice!

you cant sell the beemer mark thats the coolest car

i'll give you some old bicycles for it

Hi Jimi - I have this.....1967 Series 2A with Series 3 motor fitted.........










It is a tractor

Cold.
Drafty.
Rain gets in.
Noisy.
Slow.
Thirsty.
Fanny magnet.
Free road tax.
A total blast to drive

It's just like a big Meccano kit - everything comes off and is hyper-accessible. Aluminium panels so no body rust. Chassis is easy to get to if welding needed. Can crawl around underneath it for inspection/maintenance/repair.

Yes you can use it as a daily driver but bear in mind what it was designed for so continual long spells in heavy traffic are not fun. No syncromesh on 1st/2nd gears so that can be a hoot too. In practice you don't need 1st anyway unless on steep hill and the trick is to slot it into 3rd (thus engaging the syncro) before then selecting 2nd or 1st.
I really need to get a new wiring loom however as its an ex army FFR version and currently has spare cables and unnecessary fuses all over the shop


This forum is really good too........ http://www.series2club.co.uk/

Have fun

:twisted:

I don't know if the human brain could cope with the culture shock that would be changing from a 7 series BMW to a series Land Rover. :shock:

I had a series 2a for a while, and while they have their charms, they are not really cars. They are agricultural vehicles. Choppy ride, bad brakes, vague steering, porridge gearboxes, uncomfortable cabs etc.

Things got better with the change to 90/110 variants and then better yet with Defenders, but even a modern TD5 is still not a great driver compared to anything more car like.

That said, I would have one in a heartbeat if I had the money and the space.

I have a choice - I can nip down to Tesco in the wife's 2001 328i OR I can use the LR :twisted:

Only one will bring a smile to my face (unless I'm in a hurry on the A82, in which case the beemer wins, unless its snowing)

Plus - ye can get more firewood in the LR






aaahhh - that reminds me

Love that MrP , looks like it's ready for Armageddon, nice to see it's retained the original headlight position, seen a few converted to 3 spec and it spoils them IMHO.

firedfromthecircus":2ymj5rr2 said:

I don't know if the human brain could cope with the culture shock that would be changing from a 7 series BMW to a series Land Rover. :shock:

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Well that's the thing, i recon the big 7 is just too damned comfy and civilised for me , also fed up with people asking to buy drugs when sitting at traffic lights

Had plenty of uncomfortable and impractical cars in the past as daily drivers, most memorable were a stripped out race spec Hillman Imp that was so noisy it'd set car alarms off when driving down side roads and it used to draw exhaust fumes into the cabin when the window was open at over 40mph, lovely , also remember a 75 Pontiac Firebird (my first Yank) which leaked so much water in that i drilled holes in the floor to let it run out.

I've only done 3000 miles in the Beemer in the last year, work is only 2.5 miles away, rarely sit in traffic with the hours i work, i recon i could get by using a proper Farm Tractor