This month I decided to follow my heart and buy the one, true Land Rover the Defender.
Driving around in my Keswick Green Defender 90 pickup, I’ve been grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Every time I step into this reliable device that has been in production since 1948, I feel an instant cheer.
With not so much as an electric window, central locking system or satnav screen in sight, my little aluminium box may be a few years old but she is a beauty.
Undoubtedly more fun off-road than on after a four-hour drive down the A9 to Edinburgh this week my ringing ears can testify to that.
Stopping to fuel up this guzzler, a fellow Defender owner came over for an enthusiastic 15-minute discussion on the must-have parts to pimp our rides.
You wouldn’t get that driving just any car. The Defender is special, which is why it has a global following.
Sadly, the last Defender will roll off the production lines of Jaguar Land Rover’s Solihull factory in December because it cannot meet new car emission rules from the European Council, which start in 2020.
Given the longevity of the Defender, I doubt it’s going to stop being a familiar sight anytime soon.
It’s said that 75% of the two million built so far are still on the road. You just won’t be able to buy a new one in the UK after this year.
Parked outside the house, passersby have congratulated me on my boyfriend’s new wheels, much to my amusement.
Apparently girls don’t buy Defenders. Well, it’s the Queen’s favourite 4×4 and she knows a thing or two about cars, given her Auxiliary Territorial Service during wartime, when she trained as a driver and mechanic.
It became synonymous with combat but designer Maurice Wilkes never intended it to be driven just by men in uniform. The vehicle is a fixture in farming, adventure, rescuing and exploring.
It’s the end of line but not the end of the road for the Defender. It will continue to command respect and, most importantly, it certainly is for girls.