2019 Defender
- Thread starter plainjaneFJC
- Start date
toylandcruiser
Expedition Leader
Well. What I think Land Rover should do is continue to build the Defender, only back-engineer it to, say, 1970 specs. And Toyota should do the same with the Land Cruiser, except that it should be a copy of an FJ-45.
"They can't do that!" you scream. "They couldn't sell them in the U.S. or Europe!" Well, they couldn't sell them as CARS. But let's just suppose...
Let's suppose they sell them as, oh, paperweights, or lawn ornaments. Sell them not as a whole unit, but part by part (just like that Johnny Cash song). And if the buyers of these lawn ornament parts just HAPPENED to put them all together, and the resulting device just HAPPENED to be self-propelled, you couldn't blame LR or Toyota for the misguided actions of its customers, could you?
As for licensing, well, that might be a tad tricky. But we Americans (and you foreign types, too) are nothing if not resourceful. We'll solve that problem right after we finish assembling our lawn ornaments...
"They can't do that!" you scream. "They couldn't sell them in the U.S. or Europe!" Well, they couldn't sell them as CARS. But let's just suppose...
Let's suppose they sell them as, oh, paperweights, or lawn ornaments. Sell them not as a whole unit, but part by part (just like that Johnny Cash song). And if the buyers of these lawn ornament parts just HAPPENED to put them all together, and the resulting device just HAPPENED to be self-propelled, you couldn't blame LR or Toyota for the misguided actions of its customers, could you?
As for licensing, well, that might be a tad tricky. But we Americans (and you foreign types, too) are nothing if not resourceful. We'll solve that problem right after we finish assembling our lawn ornaments...
Believe it or not.
That's been done here before!
lotus sold the 7 series range in knock down kit from to get round British tax system rules.
The rules said you were not allowed to supply building instructions.
They however, DIDN'T say you couldn't supply instructions showing how to dismantle one....
As we know, building is the opposite of dismantling.. I'm sure you can work out the rest... Haha.
That's been done here before!
lotus sold the 7 series range in knock down kit from to get round British tax system rules.
The rules said you were not allowed to supply building instructions.
They however, DIDN'T say you couldn't supply instructions showing how to dismantle one....
As we know, building is the opposite of dismantling.. I'm sure you can work out the rest... Haha.
KlausVanWinkle
Explorer
Yall are missing the point. I'm not talking about parts support or reliability. That's not designing. I'm talking about the vehicle design.
New Land cruisers don't look like fj40s or wranglers or defenders anymore in the USA. Theyre designed to compete with range rovers, etc.
Toyota doesn't see you buying fj60 replacement parts and think, we should make a truck for the 4x4 enthusiast crowd. But when they see 200,000 wrangler unlimited sales a year, they probably think they're missing out on a lot of sales. The best way to nudge Toyota is to buy a competitors vehicle.
Corporations like Toyota are concerned with next quarter sales. Not 30 year ownership. The reputation that they will last 30 years is just one selling point. If a research firm told them they would make more money throwing reliability to the wind and only making black cars, they'd do it.
The same thing is happening at Land Rover. There is probably one person in Sr. Managment who vouches for legacy. All the Worton MBAs, analysts and consultants running the company could careless. Especially when they're making more money than ever.
KlausVanWinkle
Explorer
I've always thought there should be an easy way to buy a discovery for $1000 and then buy a conversion kit to make it into a defender 100.
toylandcruiser
Expedition Leader
"Japanese management is far more stable than US or European management, and that stability allows Toyota’s senior managers to think 5, 10, and even 20 years ahead. Traditionally, US automakers have been focused on this quarter and next quarter … meaning that reliability wasn’t as much of a priority as it should have been. Euro automakers are more stable, but still vulnerable to sudden upheaval and the dramatic shifts in direction that come along with management changes."
http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2...ota-way-in-order-to-be-as-reliable-as-toyota/
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
KlausVanWinkle
Explorer
I regret even bringing it up. I'm taking about designing for enthusiasts vs soccer moms. Not reliability.
XJLI
Adventurer
His username is "toyotalandcruiser," did you expect anything less?
toylandcruiser
Expedition Leader
toylandcruiser
Expedition Leader
And once again
just because you're not an enthusiast, doesn't mean anyone else isn't. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
KlausVanWinkle
Explorer
...like talking to a wall...
There is
- Just start with buying a chassis and go from there - as long as you don't mind the V8 in a disco you can reuse almost all of the engine and driveline. All the parts for defenders are available, some cost more than others (like push button rear doors now cost more than a galvanized chassis). The Defender is one of those cars you could literally mail order, or buy used parts, and build in your garage. If your chassis is new and you buy a new bulk head there is nothing stopping you from registering it as a Custom Build (at least here in NC).
about a year ago we rebuilt a Series ilia 109 5 door in my garage (paint, interior, new gearbox, fairy, electrics, and everything else.) Now were installing a 3.9 V8 in it with a full defender driveline... You want something... Just add more parts.
this was the starting point...
KlausVanWinkle
Explorer
I've seen someone do it in England. But he had the convenience of buying both a disco and a defender for almost nothing. Then combining them.