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"Retro off-roaders"

Tazzieman

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bigleonski

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Yes, I noticed that straight away too, but for any casual observer (my wife for example) totally think it's a G. I was trying to express my continued amazement at how the Chinese are so brazen and unabashed in their ripping off of things.
Dare I say it, a bit like the IG. 😉
 

emax

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Tazzieman

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Yes, the don't.

But no matter what they copy, it always looks like crap (and usually is). The devil is in the details. And if you copy something and your heart isn't in it, then there's no spirit in it.
I belueve it's the affordable alternative to the real thing. Like a fake watch, who will ever know - esp if you slap a RR badge on it!
 

emax

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Like a fake watch, who will ever know

I was once offered a Rolex at the harbor of Genua from one of the african blokes hanging around there.

He praised it to be an "original copy". 🙃
 

emax

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> Do you still have it ?

No, I didn't buy it: I seemed at 25€ a bit expensive for an original copy.
 

Stu_Barnes

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> Do you still have it ?

No, I didn't buy it: I seemed at 25€ a bit expensive for an original copy.


I bought one from a similar chap in Livorno, I think it was 19 Euros, the quartz movement keeps better time than the real thing....

At least it did, it's at the bottom of the ocean now.
 

klarie

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Dare I say it, a bit like the IG. 😉
Likely "this" copy will prove better than original.

Some remark
Even a non offroad oriented person should be able to simple distinguish between (orig) LR and IG.
In the class of real offroaders there are design elements "form follows function" that are nearly in all makes.
The C - Strut more wide (after rear dor in MB GLE, LR Disco Sport, Kia Sorento 2008) The old kia was optically quite close to a MB M-Class
At IG the only element that reminds a bit on old defender are the very rear side windows. Front, mid and definitely the rear is everything else but a design copy and all together far away from a clone.
Yesterday I had a hunting guest with a 30 year old LR defender. Mixing up an LR with IG ? Oh no.. Visiting an optometrist should be recommended then.
 

Stu_Barnes

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Likely "this" copy will prove better than original.

Some remark
Even a non offroad oriented person should be able to simple distinguish between (orig) LR and IG.
In the class of real offroaders there are design elements "form follows function" that are nearly in all makes.
The C - Strut more wide (after rear dor in MB GLE, LR Disco Sport, Kia Sorento 2008) The old kia was optically quite close to a MB M-Class
At IG the only element that reminds a bit on old defender are the very rear side windows. Front, mid and definitely the rear is everything else but a design copy and all together far away from a clone.
Yesterday I had a hunting guest with a 30 year old LR defender. Mixing up an LR with IG ? Oh no.. Visiting an optometrist should be recommended then.
If I squint I see 2 rectangular boxes on wheels. I see more Wrangler and (last gen) G wagon than Defender if I don’t. But that’s just me.
 

Krabby

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I’ve always thought of the IG as the offspring of a late model defender and older G Wagon.
 

DaveB

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Likely "this" copy will prove better than original.

Some remark
Even a non offroad oriented person should be able to simple distinguish between (orig) LR and IG.
In the class of real offroaders there are design elements "form follows function" that are nearly in all makes.
The C - Strut more wide (after rear dor in MB GLE, LR Disco Sport, Kia Sorento 2008) The old kia was optically quite close to a MB M-Class
At IG the only element that reminds a bit on old defender are the very rear side windows. Front, mid and definitely the rear is everything else but a design copy and all together far away from a clone.
Yesterday I had a hunting guest with a 30 year old LR defender. Mixing up an LR with IG ? Oh no.. Visiting an optometrist should be recommended then.
From the side the LR has a row of rivets that look like they were installed on the side of a track by a bush mechanic
1668970566591.png
 

rovie

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From the side the LR has a row of rivets that look like they were installed on the side of a track by a bush mechanic
View attachment 7796418
No, it must have been Jim or John. We saw them pull the rivets in live during a visit to the Solihull factory. And by the way, it was Roger Crathorne himself who guided us.
 

Stu_Barnes

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John always was more accurate than Jim with the river gun ;)

I was visiting a friends farm in Herefordshire when the defender was still in production and his old boy (father) had just bought a new 90.

“Look at that Stuart, it’s the only new car to come with dents from the factory” I was told as we admired the metallic red paint.

It replaced a series II which was held together with barbed wire and sheer bloody mindedness and is now part of the hedge.
 

DCPU

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John always was more accurate than Jim with the river gun ;)
If you went digging under the rear seats you could usually find either the stems from those rivets or a few spares they had left for you, always together with copious amounts of swarf.
 

Krabby

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LONG Defender production line story, so feel free to skip. But, I'll try to keep it short nonetheless.

My wife and I went to the UK on our honeymoon and I convinced her to take the Land Rover tour and driving day in Solihull. So we're there (amazingly it's just the two of us and the guide) and he takes us into the factory. It was amazing - spotless, relatively quiet, super hi-tech, etc. We see Range Rovers and Discos coming down the line and he's showing us this and that, but there were no Defenders (proper ones, this was 2009) in sight. So I ask, since I really do like them, where they are made. Well, he says, there's a different part of the factory, but that's not part of the tour. Seriously? We're like c'mon man, we came all this way, we're a small group etc.; after some cajoling he gives in. It's a pretty big secret, so I hope I am not ruining for anyone, but there's a time machine in Solihull. You walk through a few doors and then boom, it's 1948.

The differences between where the RRs and the Defenders are built cannot even be explained. Think ultra-modern, top-of-the-line-hospital surgery center in the US vs. a medical tent at the height of the American Civil War. No super ergonomic robot assistants for the workers, no white overalls or pristine surfaces, it was seriously 1948 and it was awesome. Highlights included a guy whacking the door hinges on a 90" at full blast because the door wouldn't sit flush or the guy carrying a tire in one hand, the other slung on top of his shoulder like a boom box and a freshly-lit Camel dangling from his lips. We loved it!

Another classic moment on the day and perhaps the funniest thing my wife has ever said: They take us into where the offices and stuff are (if I remember they're in part of the original brick building) and there's the latest engine (don't recall what it was) on an engine stand on display. It was kinda mounted on a pole and the pole was in a large plant pot with crushed rock in its base. The stones were a light shade of gray and there was a wet-spot making some of the rocks darker; upon seeing this my wife says "They even leak oil when they're not in the car?" and I lost it. The tour guide, on the other hand, flashed an awfully cold look, but we giggled for the rest of the day!
 
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