An Op-Ed: Land Rover vs Toyota 4 wd Pickup

 

The Mae Sariang Hospital Team trying to fix
their broken down Land Rover

When we arrived on the scene in 1983, the veteran missionaries based in Chiang Mai already had 20 years or so experience with Land Rovers driving on dirt tracks that barely qualified as roads. In some cases, villagers had gotten together and dug roads themselves with their own hoes and spud bars as the Thai government had not yet reached into many of the mountain areas. The veterans regaled us with tales of Land Rover lore and would recount the many adventures they and their Land Rovers had been on together. There was a genuine “bromance” going on with the veteran missionaries and their Land Rovers even though most of the “adventures” they talked about involved getting stuck or breaking down. They were heavily biased though, as the only real choice they had was a Land Rover or walking.

Google says the first Land Rover was produced in 1948 and photos show the design had changed little to none in the ensuing 35 years. We were told that was a good thing as parts from a model year in the distant past could still be used on a current model. Of course, that might be an advantage where parts availability was limited, but it is also an indication that no improvements had been made for decades. Whatever design flaws were present in 1948 were still there in the 1980s….Yay?

My bromance was with our Toyota 4 wd

Yes, the Land Rover could travel over some rough terrain, wade streams, slog through mud and it beat
walking, but the fate of the driver and passengers was irrelevant to the masochistic engineers. The tiny, straight-backed seats at least were cushioned, but were flat squares, covered with a hot, slick plastic-like, fake leather with not the slightest attempt to shape the foam to a human backside that might sit there. Leg room was minimal so it was easy to reach the pedals with your foot but hard not to hit your knee on the steering wheel when letting the pedal out.

Speaking of the steering wheel, it was massive in circumference. It not only interfered with knees when searching for pedals but no Land Rover I drove ever had power steering and the steering wheel was nearly impossible to turn. Falling in and out of the ruts on the mountain roads would whip the steering wheel one direction or the other and it took intense effort to crank the wheel enough to keep on course. The large circumference meant there was little space between the steering wheel and the door which combined with the effort required to make the tank-like car turn meant my elbows were spread wide enough that with every turn, I would crack my elbow on the thin door that housed the open window.

Our Toyota did fall through a few bridges but
it never stranded us. Bridge repair was "self service"
though as the highway department was out of reach.

And of course, the window was always open because there was no air conditioning. However, the window was even tinier than the seat cushion so even open, there was no air circulation. To open the window, it did not roll down into a slot in the door as is standard in most cars, but it slid back and forth to open and close. That meant, the door was very thin, just an inner and an outer sheet of metal so only an inch thick at most with no padding. It also meant that only half of any given window could actually provide open space to allow air inside. Need I mention that this was the tropics and it was HOT? The engine was also hot. The floor was also hot. So the interior in the humid tropics was doubly hot. The only relief was getting out of the car.

Mechanically, we did a lot of driving in tough conditions over the years, but the only times we were totally broken down was in Land Rovers. One Land Rover we had to drive had a tendency to pop out of gear and go into neutral when we had down-shifted trying to hold down our speed on steep downhill runs. We’d have to use one hand on the gear shift lever to hold it in  gear which only left one hand to manage the steering wheel which in turn, led to many a cracked elbow on the door edge of the open window as mentioned above. It’s not mentioned in many psychological journals and is totally ignored in missionary training, but I found that cracked elbows on a Land Rover door edge triggers immediate and severe outbursts of anger and un-missionary like behavior.

People or stuff, the Toyota was ready to go
(Though seat belts weren't standard)

Words cannot express how grateful I am that we came to Thailand at the end of the Land Rover era. Toyota "Hilux" 4-wheel drive pick-up trucks were coming on the scene and replacing Land Rovers in the mountains and highways all over Thailand. Those used to the heavy, military tank-like feel of the Land Rover felt insecure in the relatively light, easy to drive Toyotas. But in a short time, the Toyotas proved themselves able to go everywhere the Land Rovers had gone and were a lot more comfortable and maybe even more reliable. Pickups could also carry lots of stuff and/or people and were also better for the agricultural work we were doing. Improvements included power steering, comfortable seats (still not a ton of leg room, but I’m used to the world being designed for short people), transmissions that didn’t slip out of gear, go anywhere 4-wheel drive, air conditioning, stereo cassette players, an interior quiet enough to talk, etc. My bromance was and remains with the Toyota.