The Shape Of Things To Come?

No ... not this one ... 😜

I have been thinking to replace my daily driver for some time now. This is mainly caused by the fact that the road tax for my Land Rover has risen rather steeply over the 10 years I have owned this car. I know that these cars aren't the cheapest to run. But a rise in road tax of over 500% since I bought this car (greedy bastards in The Hague) was the moment to say enough. Especially as I bought it as a commercial vehicle, which at the time meant low road tax but also no creature comforts and strictly two seats. But the fact I have to pay a fairly ridiculous amount of money for a car that's loosing ever more of its practicality made me decide to go looking for something else and more practical. Sadly not much that ticks all the correct boxes, so in the end I decided to stay with a Defender. OK it will be even more expensive on road tax, but at least it has some more creature comforts, and most of the time it will be more practical ...

Really wanted another TD5, but today I got the opportunity to drive the TD4 shown above. Yes the one with the Transit Van engine fitted, and also a Getrag 6-speed 'box. This car, despite only having covered just over 8000 kilometres, certainly didn't meet the mark. It comes from a Land Rover Experience Centre that went bankrupt, so the car was far from perfect. Trashed might even be a better word. But the whole package showed promise. Let's say this test drive widened the horizon a wee bit. The search begins ...