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CONTENTS

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4x4 Scene: News, Products and More…

Every Month

Driven

Alan Kidd

History is bunk,’ someone said once. It was someone pretty famous, but they’re history now. They’re history, and more to the point they are, or were, wrong.

History teaches us many lessons. For example when the current state of the world is written about in the history books, it will teach our descendants that we were rubbish at learning from history. Either that or the lesson will be writ large across the surface of the planet but there’ll be no-one left to learn from it, but don’t let’s dwell too long on that one…

Anyway, this month’s history lesson comes from 40 years ago this month, when the fledgling Overlander 4x4 magazine was part of the press corps on the launch of a whole new Land Rover. A luxury Land Rover or a utility Range Rover, our man Brian Hartley wondered, before coming to the conclusion that the One Ten, as it was called, might just be the dawning of a whole new legend.

Turns out he called that right. At the time, Land Rover wouldn’t even confirm whether this new and vastly improved vehicle that looked like a 109 but drove like a Rangey was going to replace the Series III or exist alongside it. Safe to say Brian called that one right, too.

What no-one could have foreseen was the way the One Ten (and subsequently the 90, and then the Defender) would develop into a fashion brand. We all know how it’s gone; from the bottom of the market, where you can get several grand just for an identity, to the ultra-blingy lifestyle wagons changing hands for quarter of a million pounds or more, Defenders are stupendously valuable things.

What does that teach us in its capacity as a history lesson? Well, look also at what Jeep Wranglers and Toyota Land Cruisers are worth on the used market. An HDJ80 with a quarter of a million miles under its belt is still worth strong money today; even though these are now a minimum of 25 years old, it’s still common to see good ones making five figures. As for the Wrangler, find an early JK Rubicon that hasn’t been trashed and it’ll be worth more than it was new.

An old RAV4 or Grand Cherokee, on the other hand, will be worth tuppence in comparison. As will a second-generation Range Rover or Discovery 2. And as for the vehicles that replaced those What does this history lesson tell us about the 4x4s we can currently buy new? For one thing, the new Defender won’t hold its value the way the old one does. The original behaves more like a house than a car on the second-hand market, but longterm there’s nothing to suggest it’s going to do the same thing.

The Wrangler, on the other hand, is still basically the same vehicle as always. Which means it’s going to keep on holiday its money the way they always have. Like the old Defender, these are vehicles for life whose design means you can keep on rebuilding them indefinitely. Of course, the aftermarket infrastructure differs widely between the two vehicles, however while the Defender has that on its side, the Wrangler certainly has scarcity, with supply always struggling to keep up with demand.

Both vehicles, of course, have a brand on their side, and the Land Cruiser scores massively here too. Which is where the various new models set to join the market come in. The Munro MK_1 and Fening Pioneer intend to be disruptors, and both manufacturers are saying exactly the right things – but ultimately, both will be unknown quantities.

The Ineos Grenadier is a different kettle of fish. It’s unknown too, but its financial backing is common knowledge and so is the enormous know-how this has allowed the company to bring in. So history already has a different narrative waiting for it.

And who was it that said ‘history is bunk?’ Henry Ford, that’s who. A titan of history, as it turned out. He later explained that his frustration was with the way history sees everything through the lens of politics and war… so actually perhaps he had a point. Our man Hartley was right: he was seeing history in the making – and it was the kind that doesn’t belong in museums, but in the lives of real people like you and me.

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