North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

Another tid-bit..The 'tojo' motor origionated as a knockoff of the Chev 'Stovebolt Six' that powered GM six cylinder trucks.
The 'Willy's Jeep' to give it it's proper designation The Ford Willy's GPW was designed specifically for the US army and had the Willys L134/4cyl engine/Spicer driveline.
Funnily enough, the origional prototype was built by a mob called Bantam, and the vehicle designated The BRC (Bantam Reconnaissance Car), they couldn't meet production quota and Willys Overlander were given the contract.. they allowed Ford to build to Willys specs, but the 9bar grille is pure Ford.
The only REAL offroad vehicles are the Landrover and the Jeep, They're oldest and still in production.
Now here's a slap in the kisser for all those dedicated 'Landy' lovers..
The ORIGIONAL landrover was designed by the Rover Motor Company's head designer, who used the Chassis and components of the JEEP!!

dirtyruiz wrote:An interesting discussion, I would have thought the people have spoken worldwide on this one, Toyota dominate 4WD sales all over the world despite in almost every class being more expensive...

Thanks dude, yep the Corolla is the number one seller, anyway getting back on topic, bush bashers...... now where were we.....

olfart wrote:Another tid-bit..The 'tojo' motor origionated as a knockoff of the Chev 'Stovebolt Six' that powered GM six cylinder trucks.
The 'Willy's Jeep' to give it it's proper designation The Ford Willy's GPW was designed specifically for the US army and had the Willys L134/4cyl engine/Spicer driveline.
Funnily enough, the origional prototype was built by a mob called Bantam, and the vehicle designated The BRC (Bantam Reconnaissance Car), they couldn't meet production quota and Willys Overlander were given the contract.. they allowed Ford to build to Willys specs, but the 9bar grille is pure Ford.
The only REAL offroad vehicles are the Landrover and the Jeep, They're oldest and still in production.
Now here's a slap in the kisser for all those dedicated 'Landy' lovers..
The ORIGIONAL landrover was designed by the Rover Motor Company's head designer, who used the Chassis and components of the JEEP!!

how many serious 4wd do you see of either of the 2 makes you talk about nowadays ?? times have changed since the war
you see the occasional showcomp car jeep !! never seen a landrover always cruisers and nissans
you couldnt seriously put a jeep in the same class as a landcruiser in this day and age seriously ???

Hi GLP,
We bought ours in 1998; wasn't thrashed, did minimal off road, dirt road stuff, and we clocked up only 65,000km in the seven years we owned it.

Things that went wrong:

Drivers side safety belt retractor stopped retracting properly, replaced under warranty
Drivers side safety belt retractor stopped retracting properly again, replaced under warranty
The hard-top seal leaked, brought it in to be replaced, picked up vehicle to be told that replacement seal was malformed! (and went back two weeks later for another new seal). Done under warranty.
Rattle and squeak under dash passenger side; evaporator coil loose, fixed under warranty.
Oil pressure read zero on dash, from memory it was a loose connection or dry solder joint, fixed under warranty.
Separate incident, speedo read zero, similar problem, fixed under warranty.
The light globe & socket back lighting the transmission "P N R D 2 1" digits (yes it was an auto) next to the shifter became dislodged and melted a hole in the plastic shroud/trim on the side.
Can't remember exactly when, but the rear view mirror fell off the windscreen and I had to glue it on again.
Poor powder coating job on exterior mirrors and the cast aluminium (i think) 'frames' were corroding.
The evaporator coil developed a leak in 2000 and had to be replaced at a cost of about $1550.  (there is a large labour cost as the entire dash has to be removed - I believe the 'book' time is something like 9 hours)
The evaporator coil developed a leak in 2002and had to be replaced at a cost of about $1700
In the same year we were coming back from The Coburg Peninsula, and stopped off at the Border Store.  Would not restart - absolutely dead.  Turned out a lead had fallen off the neutral park switch.  Additionally the throttle control body had also failed, and we had to keep RPM above 1000 otherwise it would stall (a bit of a pain in an automatic) and I would have to jump out and 'short' the starter motor to get it going again.
The evaporator coil again developed a leak in 2004 and had to be replaced at a cost of about $1900
In 2005 the airbag warning light came on, a couple of other warning lights as well, gauges down to zero, speedo intermittent, eventually failing.  Won't bore everyone with the details, but $4000 (and a few weeks later) later it was fixed.

In addition the thing only had a 60 litre tank, so range was pathetic (it gulped fuel like you wouldn't believe) - could make Jabiru from Darwin on a tank (just), but use to fuel up at the Bark Hut Inn just in case.

I think that's everything.

We got rid of the POS in 2006

Would have replied earlier, but took a while to type this all out.......

Apart from that was a good car ??

Wasn't about comparing anything. Thread was about bush bashers.. Well like it or lump it.. they were the origionals.. nothing more, nothing less.
Every thing else evolved from those humble beginnings.

Yikes, that is a seriously bad run Ash, don't look back, keep running.

DOUG wrote:ou couldnt seriously put a jeep in the same class as a landcruiser in this day and age seriously ???

Precisely... The Jeeps and Landys are bush bashers, the LC is a highway cruiser and the Hilux is a farm hack / commercial vehicle. I'm glad someone has finally agreed with me, thanks Doug.

Now to really pissoff all you Tojo lovers.. the origional 56 tojo was a knockoff of the landrover, which was a knock off of the jeep.
Fark I love History.

I wouldn't say knock off I'd say improvement !!
And bettered year after year where are the jeeps and landrovers now ??

Ha ha old boys hanging on to the past, "back when I was a lad, landrovers this and jeeps that".

Now, where we're we? Bush bashers...

Hi Doug, as suggested earlier, my wife still seems to think that it was a good car and quite reliable - she wasn't the one having to stuff around taking it back to the dealer or A & C (for the aircon). She looks at the four door ones around today and reckons it would be nice to get one when we (eventually) move on from the CRV! NFW.
BTW, I'm not suggesting the CRV is a rival for a LC, Patrol or even a Suzi, but it might out perform a Lada Niva though!!

Hi Pete, no mechanic or autoelectrician I had spoken with about the Wrangler (at the time) had a good word for them. One thing I was pleased about the Wrangler though was that there were NO electric windows, remote locking, electric seat adjuster (or warmer!), cruise control, security system, etc etc. Would just have been more things to stuff up!!
I have no idea whether the newer series is any good or not - surprisingly, I'm not interested in even asking around about them!

From small acorns..big trees grow.
Like Tojo's, they've become Pitt Street cockies town cars, right down to the fur lined bullbar.
Most of em never have to negotiate anything more life threatening than a speed hump at the local supermarket, and the only bush they get near is the hedge along the front fence.
Unless they live in the territory...Then they come with a free shovel, to dig em out when they try to cross the front yard in wet season.
Knock off is exactly the right term for copied, something the Japs are exeptionally good at.
Hurts I know.. but dat's de trute brudda.

Without a past Ken.. there will never be a future..
A little history lesson now and then keeps things in perspective, hardly call that 'hanging on to the past'..
What part of the term 'origional bush bashers' did you not pick up on.
Without some understanding of the beginning, how do you measure the progress or otherwise of the modern version.

there is an old saying... "There is nothing new under the rising sun"

Very true

DOUG wrote:And bettered year after year where are the jeeps and landrovers now ??

Ummmm... top of the bush bashin tree, why do you ask?

Still horrible on a highway though, horses for courses I suppose. Let's consider the ultimate in advancement as an example, the Lexus (Tarted up Tojo) LX570. Can anyone seriously tell me this is not the ultimate POS for a micro penis tosser. Would you seriously call this a bush basher? lets not forget it is the top of the line Land Cruiser. The best Toyota has to offer.

olfart wrote:From small acorns..big trees grow.
Like Tojo's, they've become Pitt Street cockies town cars, right down to the fur lined bullbar.
Most of em never have to negotiate anything more life threatening than a speed hump at the local supermarket, and the only bush they get near is the hedge along the front fence.
Unless they live in the territory...Then they come with a free shovel, to dig em out when they try to cross the front yard in wet season.
Knock off is exactly the right term for copied, something the Japs are exeptionally good at.
Hurts I know.. but dat's de trute brudda.

Without a past Ken.. there will never be a future..
A little history lesson now and then keeps things in perspective, hardly call that 'hanging on to the past'..
What part of the term 'origional bush bashers' did you not pick up on.
Without some understanding of the beginning, how do you measure the progress or otherwise of the modern version.

Hahaha your kidding yourself mate cruisers have been te ultimate in bush basher back in the buff catching days !!! Doesn't get much tougher than that
If you can find a station owner in Australia who prefers jeep or landrovers over Toyota you would be doing well!!!
The 200 series and lexus are the top of the line luxury Toyota !!

Hi all, what do you reckon we draw the line on this one, and start another discussion about Ford vs Holden, or more specifically, Commodore vs Falcon?