Readers' Photos # 31: Hong Kong Land Rover

This is what happens every time I think I've cured myself of my classic Land Rover fetish. Well, maybe a mate doesn't necessarily send me some sexy pics of a Defender he's spotted in Hong Kong but somehow, somewhere, a Landie crops up and reminds me that I really do need to own one.

Why does a slab-sided, basic as a backyard dunny off-roader that's barely changed in sixty years excite me so much? Maybe that's just it; perhaps it's because Landies have been such a constant that they've come to epitomise what a proper four-wheel-drive is.

It's also quite likely because they're one of the few truly customisable rides left in a world of generic plastic crap!. A classic Landie is a blokey thing, just begging to have accessories bolted to it, like this example's ancillary lights, bull bar, winch, jerrycan-themed snorkel, big wheels, flares (on flares!), and side-steps. These are things that men can install themselves using satisfyingly manly tools and heavy-duty hardware!

What's not to love about checkerplate, exposed rivets and big nuts? Mrs UMPH doesn't quite understand but I know she's resigned to a classic Landie - anything from a Series 2 SWB ute through to a Defender wagon - gracing our driveway at some time in the future. And I know that I'm going to love every minute of my quest to turn it into the bespoke monster of my dreams!

U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

Images by Mark Drury, architect.

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