'97 Defender as Brush Truck?

[57loboy]

Must have been a well funded private fire company to have had one of these... In the UK - sure. Here in the US - pretty darn unusual I'd think.

http://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=29&acctid=4074

Starting bid $60k :ack:

 

[kennith]

If they were as cheap here as they are elsewhere, you'd see a lot of those running around painted red.

It's damned near tailor-made for wandering narrow, bushy trails hauling the sort of equipment firefighters need. It's a wonderful compromise of size and utility.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[mjbrox]

If they were as cheap here as they are elsewhere, you'd see a lot of those running around painted red.

It's damned near tailor-made for wandering narrow, bushy trails hauling the sort of equipment firefighters need. It's a wonderful compromise of size and utility.

Cheers,

Kennith

like a jeep ?

 

[57loboy]

like a jeep ?

Agreed. I was a FF for 18 years and if we'd had a Defender to play with, we'd have beat the everloving crap out of it. And broken it. Our brush truck/runabouts were Jeeps and we were an extremely well funded department in a wealthy town. Seems like this one was a vanity purchase for somebody.

 

[Drillbit]

Realize they bought this new. What did a Wrangler cost in 97? I know someone who bought a defender new and I think it cost around 27 grand. If a jeep was 20k and the Defender was 27k this seems less ridiculous of a purchase. It's a quirk of importation laws that the jeep would new be work 3000 and the Defender is worth 60k.

 

[mjbrox]

Realize they bought this new. What did a Wrangler cost in 97? I know someone who bought a defender new and I think it cost around 27 grand. If a jeep was 20k and the Defender was 27k this seems less ridiculous of a purchase. It's a quirk of importation laws that the jeep would new be work 3000 and the Defender is worth 60k.

The availablity of parts and accesories for a jeep far surpasses defender in every way.

 

[kennith]

like a jeep ?

Yes, but it's a better hauler.

If availability was the same, the Defender 90 would be an outstanding choice even today. Add to that the ability to field 110s with similar spares, and you've got the makings of a nice bush fleet.

...Just not here, where they are not as easy to maintain, and pretty much impossible to buy.:ack:

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[Howski]

this would pair nicely with the 101 fire truck GMR had for sale last year

 

[pdxrovermech]

The Port of Portland here has a 110 that they use to run around the beaches of the Willamette and Columbia River, but I believe they acquired theirs via a seizure.

 

[57loboy]

Realize they bought this new. What did a Wrangler cost in 97? I know someone who bought a defender new and I think it cost around 27 grand. If a jeep was 20k and the Defender was 27k this seems less ridiculous of a purchase. It's a quirk of importation laws that the jeep would new be work 3000 and the Defender is worth 60k.

You piqued my curiosity on that one, so I did some digging...

According to sites I searched, the Wrangler SE MSRP was $13,995 in 1997 which is $20,560 in 2014 dollars (inflation is a bitch). Defender 90 soft top MSRP was $32,625 in 1997 or $47,931 in 2014 money.

Effectively a $13k increase in value (using 2014 dollars because that's all we can spend today) for the D90 and the same Jeep takes a $17k depreciation hit. Granted, a 1997 Wrangler probably wouldn't look as good as that D90 does, especially if it spent ANY time near a fire station of any kind.

Even if your friend got the Defender at invoice price (which was - from what I've found, around $27k), the spread against a Jeep would still have been cost-prohibitive for most municipalities. The bean counters would have stroked out because they probably wouldn't have been able to amortize the costs over a 20+ year life span like they do the heavy trucks.

 

[az_max]

Dude, our fire department spends crazy money on toys. They bought segways, a mini ambulance (Polaris based 6x6), hand held devices for dispaching themselves for the 2007 superbowl. The segways are sitting in a storage shed (since march 07), the handhelds already went to auction, and the Gator probably has 6 flat tires where ever it's sitting. They have all kinds of specialty vehicles that probably aren't needed. If someone wanted a Defender back in 95-97, they would have come up with a way to buy one.

There's also an investigation going on why they didn't follow the RFP procedure to purchase a new firetruck. I'm not exactly sure which way it is, but either they went with The Chief's buddy and Freightliner is complaining, or they didn't go with the Chief's buddy and Freightliner is complaining.


edit: $56,000 mini ambulance: http://www.glendaleaz.com/Clerk/agendasandminutes/Meetings/Agendas/081407-14.pdf

 

[galen216]

It's on here somewhere if you search, but years ago a Virginia Fire Co. had a white D90 for a brush truck and they auctioned it off for a fundraiser. This was in the middle of nowhere VA and apparently the fire co had a rich benefactor.

EDIT: Thread about this same truck.

http://www.discoweb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=16229&referrerid=2754

Here's the other one:

http://www.discoweb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=46616&referrerid=2754

 

[Tugela]

Public safety services in this country have nothing on the departments in other countries. The cops in the UK (or the "rozzers" as they are called there) drive Range Rovers and Discoveries:

There is also a police department in Italy that has one or two Lamborghinis. That must be a tough detail...

Plus those old Carmichael 6x6 converted Range Rover fire trucks in the UK...

 

[57loboy]

The UK does have nice rides. My father in law was a Chief Inspector in the East Midlands police. One of his cars was a Jaguar sedan. Had the "jam sandwich" stripes and all... Don't recall if it was an XJ or something earlier. He'd retired by the time I met him.

 

[jafir]

Agreed. I was a FF for 18 years and if we'd had a Defender to play with, we'd have beat the everloving crap out of it. And broken it. Our brush truck/runabouts were Jeeps and we were an extremely well funded department in a wealthy town. Seems like this one was a vanity purchase for somebody.

It was a private fire service, not a city that originally bought it.

"Q: Did the city buy this new? (3/13/14 1:08 PM)
A: This vehicle was purchased new by a private fire company that served our community. We obtained all of their assets when we took over operations in 2007. (3/13/14 2:06 PM)"

 

[rover4x4]

everyone forgets that the Defenders and Discos are the f350's and ford explorers/tahoes of the rest of the planet. Can you get an lr4 with a manual transmission and cloth seats?

 

[Tugela]

Not in this country. I saw in one of the UK Rover mags a while back that there is a new trim level for the Discovery 4 that has coil springs and lacks a lot of the features found on the higher end trim levels. Someone at LR is catching on.

 

[jhmover]

Not in this country. I saw in one of the UK Rover mags a while back that there is a new trim level for the Discovery 4 that has coil springs and lacks a lot of the features found on the higher end trim levels. Someone at LR is catching on.

My wife was bugging me to get a newer Range Rover or LR3/4. I told her unless she wanted to buy me a Land Rover Dealership to go with it there was no way.

I found a nice unmolested 1998 D1 with all the records, no accidents, original purchase from San Jose LR by a woman that never used it for more then going to Tahoe to ski. She sold it to a guy who put another 10k on it and I got all his records, too. All he used it for was commuting to the Caltrain station in Palo Alto and some trips to go bike riding. California car, no road salt, etc.

It has 101k on it and all the goodies (bumpers/ARB diff/roof rack/driveshafts, etc.) from my 96 5-speed fit it.

 

[quick128]

They were given away by the feds as a grant. They came kitted out. Local fire department here had one that they gave away in a raffle a couple years ago. Not sure why the Forest service would have chosen a defender as a brush truck, much less give it away to rural fire departments.

 

[D Chapman]

Follow the money