Defender Love

Living with a Landy Defender has as much to do with Stockholm Syndrome as it does with sunstroke. ALWYN VILJOEN explains why.

EVEN the most hardened Landy loyalist will agree that there is no logic behind the continued sales of new or used Land Rover Defenders.

Not when the rugged outdoor enthusiasts who buy the brand can also choose between the Freelander, the Range Rover, the Discovery or the sleek Evoque — all equally capable in the rough, and every one of them light years more comfortable than the iconic Defender.

None of them can, however, do to their drivers what the Defender does best, which is to snag, poke, coop up in a cramped position and, finally, bestow token mercies — like not breaking down.

These are all elements that go into the creation of capture-bonding, better known as Stockholm Syndrome. This happens when the captive falls in love with the captor after a few days of being held in cramped confines.

Wikipedia explains that the captives typically “express empathy and sympathy, and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them.

“These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness.”

This description fits every Defender owner I’ve yet met.

The free online Medical dictionary states that “the Stockholm Syndrome can be seen as a form of traumatic bonding”, which does not necessarily require a hostage scenario, but which describes “strong emotional ties that develop between two people where one person intermittently harasses, threatens, abuses, or intimidates the other”.

Which just about sums up the driving experience in any Defender, from the moment the protruding door jam snags a belt loop while the driver gets in, to the cramp that slowly develops from having to match the pedal position on one side with that of the steering wheel on the other, to when the drive shaft snaps.

Craig Dutton, organiser of the first Landy Festival in KZN and host of the website: http://mylandroverhasasoul.com/“ best summarised all of above.
"My Landy is not here right now, its being repaired," he said as the first campers gathered for a wet, cold weekend. 

Asked why they were not in front of the telly at home on the coldest night of the winter, one particularly rugged individual wordlessly pointed over his shoulder to the nearest Landy’s door. On it the legend read: “One life. Live it.”

Which is why I will be at next year’s Land Rally.
For life is too short not to fall in love.
Even if it has to be a traumatic bonding with a Landy Defender.