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Still Feuding Afterall These YearsBy Hallie and Nate Vail[Hallie and Nate Vail, a college student inMassachusetts and a recent graduate, respectively,benefited from a wonderful upbringing from theirfather, Bob, a Land Rover buff of the highest order.But, being brother and sister, they still can’t disagreeon much except their love of Land Rovers.Read on and see where you stand –ed.]Hallie VailI’m fond of looking back and recalling the firstmoment the Land Rover infection seeped into the veinsof the Vail’s. After a good deal of persuasion from afamily friend, my father looked into buying an oldseries Rover. In the mid 1990’s I recall finding myselfin someone’s garage looking at what used to be aseries 88” Land Rover. At the time, I couldn’t tell if Iwas looking at a car or a glorified lawn mower. Therewasn’t much left of it, but my father was enthusiasticenough to take the wreck. It surprisingly ran as it was,yet the frame was completely rusted out and mostevery part needed repair.After months, well I shouldn’t lie, years had goneby my father got it road-worthy. With a new light tanpaint job (done by hand, I should say) and a newframe, we tested its reputation. Trips to Rangeleybecame more frequent and exhilarating. Our rustictruck not only took us places we’d never been, it alsobrought the curse of the infection alive. We now knowyou can’t make it there from here in one piece. I can’trecall all the problems we’ve faced, but everythingfrom water pump failure to engine problems havestruck us along the way.Now, almost 10 years later, it’s sickening howmany Rovers accompany our home. While several arewrecked and abused Nate and I are able to gloat aboutour own Landys. His ‘96 discovery and my ‘93 RangeRover get us from point A to B, and also turn someheads while getting there; though I must explain to youthat owning a Range Rover has its perks over theDiscovery.My first Rover came along a few weeks beforewinter romp in ‘04. My father ran into it on the side ofthe road for sale. They say that it took a bad tank ofgas and the injectors seized. Though it seemed aregrettable buy, my ingenious father (brownie points)was able to have it up and running by the time Iarrived home for summer. Shortly thereafter, the black’92 Range Rover was outfitted with a lift fromBWOverland and Trxus tires. Nate’s green Disco hadyet to become a part of the family at this point, so Imade sure to rev my engine loud enough when he’dwalk by or park in the way of our frontdoor to make it known what I drove;brother-sister love must be shown at alltimes you know.Much to my dismay, a fewweeks past and he was graced with aclean Disco. I quickly had to size up ourtrucks. While at this point in time I could make a cleardecision on who had the better truck, it’s much simplernow; now that I have two Range Rovers to pickfrom. I hate to admit it, but the black beauty justwouldn’t make the trips to and from school. Theengine has yet to make a full recovery from being inthe dumps and unending oil leaks lessen the chancesof successful highway driving. I felt useless this pastMaine Winter Romp when my father had to radio in tome on a constant basis to make sure my Rangie couldkeep up with his Series 109” [!] on the highway. WhileNate’s Disco is a few years younger, my white Classicout-handles his on the highway. The Range Rover easespast 75 mph [hypothetically speaking, of course]while his begins to feel as though it may fall off itsframe. The Range Rover also isn’t as top heavy andmaking abrupt turns is a possibility even with a lift. Inthe early 1990’s Range Rover understood luxury. Whilemine is quite bare compared to the technology there isin recent years, the seats hug your body and give youperfect relaxed posture. The Disco, on the other, handstrains your lower back and constantly pushes yourhead forward. The Range Rover is made to loosen upthe driver while a Discovery tends to have the traditionaluncomfortable Land Rover approach to the interior.Though the interior and handling of the RangeRover may outdo the Discovery, I must say I cannotspeak too badly of a fellow Land Rover. Off road, bothhave great capabilities and have equal low rangepower. I’m grateful Nate and I are able to own twostrong Land Rovers which maneuver excellently offroad. I feel I was careful enough not to bash him toohard, he is the older sibling and I still get in trouble ifI tease or ridicule his ways.________ ________Nate VailRi•val / rí’ vl/ n. 1. a person competing withanother for the same thing.In the case of my sister Hallie and myself thatwould be the competition for owning the perfect LandRover. Allow me to discuss why we own (and hopefullydrive) Land Rovers and why my Disco I is superior toher Range Rover Classic(s).I love Land Rovers. I have since I knowingly sawmy first when I was a wee lad of about thirteen. Mydad ended up buying that same ole ’73 and still ownsit to this day. He gave it to me for a daily driver in highschool and it’s now currently retired, torn down to theframe, yielding a few parts to dad’s red 109 which youmay have seen at events over the past five years. Therehas been some ongoing Land Rover project at the Vaileresidence for the past decade. But, I’m willing to bet ahealthy number of you readers have had various LandRover projects going on even longer. Most of us ownerscan agree: if you got the money you ain’t got thetime, if you got the time you ain’t got the money.So what makes a Land Rover so great, why drivean old Rover when you can buy a two door foreignspec, saving money on gas and driving 200,000 mileswithout a problem? Hah, what a stupid question! ALand Rover is a unique commodity that has a rich heritage.I drive one because they turn heads. It’s a vehicleto take pride in. You’ve got to stand out in the seaof mediocrity. Most importantly, a Land Rover is themost versatile vehicle on the planet!I am convinced that I have worked my LandRover Discovery to be the vehicle to best suit me, mylifestyle, and my limited recent college grad budget.We’ll start from the top. The buildup of my ’96Discovery started out primitive in the summer of ’04.For starters, the foot wells had rust holes the size offootballs and the previous owner had enough extradead-end audio wiring to power my old townhouse atcollege. After welding patches, tracing wires, andcleaning up the truck, it was time to add some morepleasurable modifications.The current up to date mods worth mentioningconsist of a three inch lift, 33 inch Swampers, SafetyDevices, roof rack, ARB front bumper, and aFlowmaster catback exhaust (I’m still trying to stealone of my dad’s winches – please don’t print this!).I like my Disco better than my sister’s twoClassics because I’ve got the best of both worlds, civilizationand wilderness, with just one Rover. My truckcan handle tough trails and can handle lengthy tripson the pavement. Believe me I’ve tested her out onmany long rides. I went to college four hours away inVermont. My girlfriend lives three hours away inMassachusetts. I broke down only twice in the pastyear; I call that successful for a high mile daily driverRover. My sister informs you all that my truck can’thandle on the highway, I think her experience is aresult of the operator, not the machine. Big brothersknow more, anyway.Let’s move on to some other perks from drivingmy Disco. I’m a type of person who likes to keepthings under my control. That’s why I’ve got an R3805-speed manual transmission. I do believe that theClassic never gave that option for NAS trucks. Althoughnearly bulletproof, I think the automatic ZF shifts tooearly. My sister hates to admit, but as a likely result ofearly shifting, I blew her road Rangie off the line at theNew Hampshire Hampton tolls. In addition, I’ve gotseating for seven people, with A/C vents for every seat!Last fall at school I took six of my buddies on a set ofdirt bike trails, since the Rover was narrow enough tonavigate it. As you all know, from time to time you gettemporarily stuck. With the assistance of my six passengers,they’re able to push me out of an obstaclewith ease. And finally, for my last perk, the back seathas plenty of headroom.I’m very pleased with my Disco. It looksreal sharp and sounds real mean. Granted, I do likeHallie’s Rangies, whenever I need to travel to Boston Iborrow her “Road Rover” so I can actually fit in aparking garage (one drawback to adding on my SDroof rack). At any rate, I wouldn’t trade my Disco foreither of her two Classics. It’s all about outfitting yourown vehicle to your own needs.[Note – the Editor calls this battle a tie.]________ ________Page 32