>Frank Elson wrote:
>that's a lovely truck. Now all you need is a litre of Dark Bronze
Green and a 4ins brush... ;-)
The pictures reminded me of a question I've been wondering
about for years. What is it about Series Land Rovers
that prompts so many people to plaster them with decals and
stickers? Judging by the photos I've seen posted here and in
magazines, it's gotten as bad as Formula One. You know there's
a race car down under there somewhere, but you'd never guess its
shape from all the sponsor's decals and other crap plastered all
over them. I'm probably really old fashioned and out of touch,
but I still recall the clean, beautiful lines of race cars in the 1960s
and 70s. I don't think Jimmy Clark's cars had anything but
racing numbers on them. (I do understand the big money attached
to sponsors' logos and the racing teams' need to get more of it, but
that doesn't make me like the look of the things.)
I've seen so many photos of really nice looking Land Rovers that
are covered with loud, annoying ("Best 4 X 4 X Far" being one of
the most irritating in this regard) decals that clash with the
paint, the lines, and the aesthetics of the vehicle. I'm not talking about
the
modification of a Series from factory original here, I'm simply
wondering why so many people seem to have such bad taste when it
comes to Land Rovers. I have not been aware of quite so much garishness
with vehicles like FJ40s and CJ5s, but perhaps there are plenty of examples
of these vehicles that are just as tastelessly plastered.
It's sort of like deliberately putting a ding in a Ferrari with a ball
peen hammer. It's still a Ferrari, and it still performs and sounds
like a Ferrari, and it's still great to drive (assuming you have
one of the good Ferraris). But it's got
this ding in it that stands out like a big zit on a homecoming queen's face.
I could understand it if the owner is trying to cover up corrosion, bullet
holes, or the place where he scraped the car against the parking garage
pillar. But I've seen too many examples of freshly restored and painted
Land Rovers that are about as perfect as it's possible to get with wavy
Birmabright, and the first thing the owners seem to do is go out and
get as big a collection of garish logos and bumper stickers and plaster
them all over the vehicles.
So perhaps someone can explain to me the fascination so many Land Rover
owners have with trying to make their vehicles look like billboards. Is it
considered cool, these days? Like tongue studs and eyebrow piercings?
Do the people who plaster all sorts of stuff all over their otherwise clean
and well-maintained Land Rovers do the same thing to their other vehicles?
Should I start expecting to see BMW 740s or Z-8s with huge, neon
"Ultimate Driving Machine" stickers and big decals saying "M Power" all
over them? Just curious....
___________________________
C. Marin Faure
(original owner)
1973 Land Rover Series III-88
1991 Range Rover Vogue SE
Seattle
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