Land Rover Defender Gear Change

The future of the automobile is electric. I am all for this.

It perhaps is a future filled with ‘driverless’ cars. That I’m not so sure about.

I like cars. In fact I love driving full stop. If you suggest two routes, one a straight line, the other winding, as long as the time difference isn’t vast, I will always take the winding route. 

In the city I understand and am mostly glad of an automatic gearbox. In the country, there are fewer greater thrills than the heavy, annoying beauty of the Land Rover Defender’s gearbox.

The wonder of a Defender is that in essence they are a throwback. A kit car almost. You can add bits and take bits away. As long as you don’t go too far in either direction it’ll always work. 

Yes, the ride can be bumpy, but you can do something about that, new polybushes, suspension altered and put on the appropriate shock absorbers.

Yes it can rev high, so if doing motorway driving add an overdrive to increase the cruising speed.

Yes, you need calves of steel. 

All that said, you find me a car more fun to change from third gear into fourth, in all weathers and all terrains from Mayfair to Dorset. 

Now, there is a new one coming, it’ll be great, I don’t care what everyone says online, this is too big a deal, so they will get it right. I’ll no doubt want it, I’ll no doubt sit on my computer speccing it up like I do with all new Land Rovers. But…