Andrew St.Pierre White
To me, some 4x4s have The Thing and others have none or little. I doubt if I am too different from most 4x4 lovers in seeing it this way. But because The Thing, to some means everything, and to others, nothing, people buy a Land Rover for the exactly the same reason that they buy a Land Cruiser, or an X5 for that matter. I鈥檝e lost count of how many 4x4s I鈥檝e owned. I think it鈥檚 nine. My first was a Range Rover. Range Rovers, even the relatively boring P38 version, have The Thing. The early ones, I think it is safe to say, have far more than the newer ones, but they all have it. For me, almost all of the Range Rover鈥檚 competitors have very little of it, if any. Take the Q7, X5 or the Land Cruiser-200. The Thing is conspicuous by its absence. In my book, Range Rover Classics drip with it.
I have a few pix of my previous 'Landies', but not digital. I'd have to see how I can convert them for the benefit of my readers. My first 'Landie', a 1981 Series III was bought in 1995 from a small workshop near Hertford (England), converted from a 'hard-top' to estate with collapsible seats in the back and painted in 'Masai Red'. I changed the seats after a while for benches. Next, in April 1996 came a dark green, Long-wheelbase 1971 Series IIa, bought from Mark Leader on Angel Lane, Stratford E15. She was a bit basic and the indicator slipped on the steering column. Still, she could shift. I did 75 on the M11 without even realising! She had a thirst as well, but petrol was only about 75p per litre then. So next up was another 1981 Series III, blue this time, bought April 1997. Also Long-wheelbase. This one travelled quite a lot. A lot of remedial work was needed and I had the 'dished' bonnet replaced with a plain one, the spare wheel mounted on the rear door.
A car logo is a symbol or text that represents the identity of a particular type of car. Today, the car market is flooded with different brands and models. Car logos will help you to distinguish one brand from another. Logos serve as unique visual marks of identity of a company. They help companies gain product recognition in the world market. In general, logos reflect the individuality of the company. Logos should be simple and thoughtfully designed to appeal the target customer. As cars are speed lovers? Commonly, three types of car logos are used - symbol logo, text logo, and combination logo. In symbol logos, special designs or symbols are used to represent the brand. Popular car companies like Citroen, Ferrari, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Renault, Porsche, Subaru, and Koenigsegg have symbols for their logos. These symbols have ingrained deep into people? In text logos, the initials or the names of the companies are written in a particular style. Text logos are used by many famous car companies such as Fiat, Mazda, Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, and Volvo. Combination logo is a blend of symbols and texts. They place symbols and text in juxtaposition to make memorable logos. Popular car brands like Alfa Romeo, Audi, Maserati, Skoda, Lamborghini, Panoz, Cizeta, Lotus, Rover, and BMW make effective use of symbol-text combinations. Car logos come in different shapes, sizes and colors. Car logo stickers are used as fundraisers for clubs, schools, or teams. Today, car logos appear even on t-shirts, caps, bags and other accessories. A gift item printed with car logos can make a great gift to any speed lover.
Our friends over at AUTOEXPRESS have posted this report and is important information should you own or know someone who owns any of the cars these manufactures made. Four Japanese manufacturers - Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda - are to recall more than 3.4 million cars after a potential fault with the cars' airbags was identified. Toyota is recalling 1.7 million cars worldwide after its vehicles had a defective part that "could cause the airbag inflator to rupture and deploy the airbag abnormally in a crash". However, the manufacturer confirmed that the airbag would still deploy in the event of an accident. Honda is recalling 1.1 million cars, while Nissan and Mazda are recalling 480,000 and 45,000 cars respectively. In terms of UK numbers, the recall affects around 76,000 Toyota models, while Nissan is calling back 59,000 cars. Around 15,400 Hondas are affected by the fault and 1,900 Mazda cars. UK models affected include the Toyota Corolla and Yaris, the Honda Civic, CR-V and Jazz models, and the Nissan X-Trail, Patrol, Almera and Navara. The problem came to light after Toyota received five separate reports of the fault, three in the US and two from Japan. There have been no complaints from owners in the UK and a spokesman for Toyota confirmed that there had been no injuries as a result of the incident. Honda, Nissan and Mazda claim there have been no incidents involving their cars. The Japanese car makers said the defective part was supplied by parts maker Takata Corp. All four manufacturers have said that the part will be replaced free of charge, and will notify customers over the next 30 days.
Now, more than ever, there is a strong division in sales pitch between the Station Wagon versions and the commercially-intended Pick-Ups and Van-bodied versions. Modern vehicles can be very luxurious. The "XS" Station Wagon was introduced in 2002 as a top-spec level, while the "County" package can now be applied to every model in the line-up. XS models come with many "luxury" features, such as heated windscreen, heated seats, air conditioning, electronic traction control and leather seats. These are popular with buyers in the UK and other developed countries, who either use the vehicle for on-road duties such as towing or people-moving, or simply as an interesting and fashionable alternative to an estate car. At the other extreme, basic models are still popular with farmers, industrial and commercial users, as well as the emergency services. It finds willing buyers in over 140 countries. Land Rover still provides a staggering range of special conversions such as hydraulic platforms, fire engines, mobile workshops, ambulances and breakdown recovery trucks.
