(23-11-2012 09:12am)XFullFatTim Wrote:  That must have been a special import! IIRC 1977 was the last year of official US sales - when airbags became a requirement on all cars in the USA. Defender cannot be re-engineered to take airbags, it would compromise the offroad ability unlike newer designs of 4x4 designed more recently. I have seen quite recent Defenders in Virginia and Maryland and on enquiring it transpired that the owners had imported them when they returned from serving with the US forces in Germany. There are companies over here who can export Land Rovers and Defenders but these days there are no petrol engined made for the European market and the latest Defenderes have an engine that doesn't like your "low" sulphur diesel - yours has too much sulphur! Old Land Rovers are worth a fortune in the US these days. I have heard a good one can fetch $50,000............... for a 30 year old car!

(23-11-2012 02:26pm)XFullFatTim Wrote:  Discovery 1,2 ,3 and 4 have all been ongeneral release in the USA with V8 petrol engines. Freelander 1 was available for a short period but was overpriced, unreliable (although a friend of mine took his out to 200,000 miles with only one breakdown) and too small. Range Rover was available from the start of the LWB Classic IIRC. RRS was a huge hit there and Freelander2 (called LR2) is also available Stateside.
Prior to 1977 the Series Land Rovers were sold in USA and were very popular and many are still going strong with V8 engines. The Model Called Land Rover 90 and Land Rover 110 were not exported either but many of the US Armed Forces guys serving with the Army On Rhine took ex Military Land Rover90 and 110's back to the States as they realised the investment potential (and to thumb a nose at Jeep owners!). I'm not sure but there was one year in the UK when there were no new Defenders available(possibly 1991) when in the first Gulf War the US army brought all the production as they found the HumVee was next to useless in the sand and needed petrol that had to be imported from the USA! HumVees were designed for war in Eastern Europe not desert operations

(23-11-2012 02:59pm)PhilSkill Wrote:  Could be few more wading/fording experiences after tomorrows rain... Back in mine after another week in the Espace thankfully. Fields are completely waterlogged and pouring onto the roads in places already before another predicted deluge!