It’s getting on to nearly 20 years old! But there are few vehicles that can do what it has done and hopefully, will continue to do! However, who am I to be an objective commentator? I am a little smitten as a Land Rover owner, not really of sound mind anymore, given to regular bouts of McGyver-ism intertwined with Mitty-isms. Many of my “friends” entertain themselves with jokes that they think are at my expense. I know better. Pure envy. That is the real root of their jokes. For they all know that with a generous amount of love and care, my Landie can go anywhere and survive just about anything. I think they are just abusive with their vehicles. They bring them home, beaten, dirty, park them and then get in and go again, not checking all of the bolts and screws, the belts and seals, doing a thorough pre-drive check list (not unlike what I always did before taking off in a plane as a pilot!). They don’t even care enough to carry those special spare parts that could be needed when deep in the bush: oil, water, belts, bolts, tubing, duct tape, bailing wire and such. My old girl sometimes likes to have special treats when far from civilization. Don’t we all? Anyway, bought new when we moved to Zambia in 1997, much to the chagrin of my sons, I am still driving the Landie. Does she need to be replaced? Well, in the words of my Land Rover mechanic friend down in Livingstone, “it is time that [I] consider retiring her from daily driving.” The daily use in city is wearing and tearing on the mechanics, but with a little attention to a couple of items, it could still be reliable (relatively speaking) for longer distance trips. It has taken us over a lot of African roads and track and places where there were no roads. Comfortably? That is a relative question, too. But I have always made it home. (Though a couple of times at the end of a tow-bar!)
