Nicole

Defenders are known to have their ailments. Niggling, mystifying and irritating - what you would expect from a car designed 51 years ago. The 300 Tdi engine, a massive turbo diesel affair is all business with its ear-splitting presence that could never be called a purr. And the aluminum body (or rather aluminium as the British will insist on saying) is a soft metal prone to show every dent but never rust. It is a car built for pulling through and over the worst terrain while maintaining a stiff upper lip and proper decorum.

Where it often goes wrong is with the infamous Lucas electric system and poorly made plastics. Lucas electrics have been the bane of every British made car from Minis to Rolls Royces. I remember 30 years ago when I raced a Mini Cooper S on the European rallye circuits, it was always Lucas that let me down or the gearbox which was made out of putty. But the engine block would survive anything.

So it was with relief that after 2 years and 60,000 km of trouble-free driving, the Landy began to show its fickle side. I was beginning to believe that British cars were finally reliable. Not so. First it was the plastic radiator cap that split in two with steam pouring out its nostril like a Chinese dragon. With a piece of plastic found by the roadside secured with a plastic tie we made an emergency cork of sorts and limped to a garage 300 km away. This meant jumping out every half hour and refilling the radiator before the temperature rose to alarming levels. Our 10-gallon spare water tank proved its worth and we drained it in the process. But we got the car to the garage safe and sound.

The next problem was of the mystifying variety. One day, at the far end of Kangaroo Island, miles away from help, the car would not start. Yet every component was working perfectly…starter relay, starter motor, solenoid, and alternator were all A-OK. It occurred to me that it might be the immobilizer kill switch - what stops thieves from driving away with your car once you set the alarm. The kill switch stops the current from tripping the starter. And so it proved to be. A simple wire by-passing the offending circuit cured that one.

Land Rover mechanics in Adelaide were unable to repair the alarm black box. Defenders in Australia don't have them (people are honest here or who would want to steal a Defender anyway - take your pick). We will change it when the car returns to South Africa in August. But days later in the middle of the Flinders mountain range the car stalled suddenly and would not start. No fuel. Bone dry. Even with 120 liters of diesel on board. Again all the fuel lines, pumps and filters were fine. Again it was an electric kill switch, this time stopping the fuel from reaching the injectors. The alarm's black box was self-destructing. Well trained now, we bypassed that circuit. We ran a wire from the parking light to the fuel pump circuit and now we drive with our lights on. And all goes well. No one will be able to start the car unless they know to turn the lights on - so we created our own new anti-theft device by force of circumstance.

We have had three flat tires on rocky roads that literally chewed the sidewall to pieces. I will spare you the leaking gear transfer box because every Land Rover has oil leaking from somewhere all the time. And yet I love my Landy. Every morning I climb aboard delighted to bounce along in it for hundreds of kilometers. It's a Land Rover thing, you Toyota owners wouldn't understand.