FallCreek - my Series IIA Landrover made a mechanic and a Landcruiser driver out of me. "If you want to drive a hundred miles into the bush, buy a Landrover. If you want to get home again, buy a Landcruiser." You start repairing a Landrover the day after driving it out of the showroom. My LR's only saving grace was that it usually waited until I reached Nairobi before self-destructing; the chassis once broke in half as I pulled into a friend's driveway. You always carried spare front axles (halfshafts) because even after thirty years of breaking, Landrover could not bring itself to make them slightly thicker.

The Series III LR with the Range Rover suspension was an instant hit when it arrived in East Africa in the early 1980's because they were so comfortable compared to the brutal ride of the Series II's. However nearly everyone who bought one rolled it within weeks because they unwittingly drove far too fast for the 'road' conditions. I have to admit, however, that I have twice tipped a Landcruiser driving at a perfectly reasonable speed going downhill on a gravel surface, and the same happened to my field assistant in another one - they suddenly go sideways and the high center of gravity just pulls them over. Another time I was carrying three drums of diesel in the back and tipped over on a muddy slope.

LC's are as close to indestructible as a vehicle can be; you can count on several years of heavy use on appalling roads before anything goes wrong. I am still driving a 2002 pickup with probably a couple hundred thousand of bush miles on it (odometer died once or twice), albeit after an engine rebuild and a new transmission. And the African tradition of gas stations adulterating diesel with much cheaper kerosene makes for occasional new fuel pumps.