Tag: 90
Defender of the north
A rare sighting of spectacular aurora in central Vancouver Island, a first for some. Not only visible, but under perfectly clear skies, dancing directly overhead, filling the skies, and including pink and red colours that are rarely seen this far south. See the series 2a version of northern lights here.
Feeling at home
A first visit to the forest on the island with Daisy, a 1997 Japan Specification Land Rover Defender 90 that spent a good portion of its life in the Kansai area. The air is still cool but the light makes it feel like spring is arriving. Several small items have been checked off slowly so…
Defender on the island
1997 was the last year Land Rover Defenders were made for the Japanese and North American markets due to the increasingly heavy-handed safety regulations being introduced. It was also the only year that an automatic transmission was offered. The JAS and NAS are almost identical, even to the point of being left-hand-drive, powered by the…
Bringing Daisy home
Daisy is a 1997 Japan Specification Land Rover Defender 90 (#594) that was made for the Japanese market, after a few years in the Tokyo area spent a good portion of its life near Osaka driven and cared for by a Japanese woman, and is largely original still and in reasonable shape for a 27-year-old…
Mainland adventure
A quick stop next to an ivy covered tree along the upper edge of the river. While on the lower mainland, Daisy had a few things taken care of including a provincial inspection, refresh of wheels and tires, daytime running lights, front bumper cleanup and powder coating, and a general look-over. We are grateful to…
When I cross over
Some heavily-edited and interesting vistas crossing over to the lower mainland to pick up Daisy, a 1997 Japan Specification Land Rover Defender 90 that spent most of its life in the Kansai area. The final voyage for the hard-working Rad on its way to a new home. See more posts related to Daisy’s journey, restoration,…
Spotted: Ninety in Windermere
Roving reporters spotted a classy old Ninety (pre-defender, 1984-1989) with an updated roof and wheels, sidesteps/sliders, rear work lights, snow cowls and chequerplate on the wings. Note the hinged windscreen brackets and tail light configuration. Bonus sighting of a decades-newer puma variant somewhere near Windermere, note the bump in the bonnet and lack of functioning…
Spotted: JAS 90 on streetview
An interesting bit of geolocating and detective work reveals the past home of a 1997 Japanese spec Defender 90 (#426) on the streets of Okinawa. It appears that a respray in the original Arles blue colour occurred between the 2017 and 2020 photos, note the missing “Rover Japan” decal and refreshed appearance after that point.…
A (very) brief history of Land Rovers
The designer of the Land Rover was using an old ww2 surplus Willys Jeep for farm work and when it began falling apart decided to make a rugged vehicle to replace its usefulness. Additionally the Rover Co. needed to quickly produce a stop-gap utility vehicle for export sales in order to qualify for steel rations.…