Land Rover Defender `Fit for Purpose’.October 26 2009

I think it’s brilliant that the Land Rover Defender has been voted the nation’s favourite vehicle by its owners, beating almost 400 other models in a poll of more than 20,000 readers of What Car? magazine.

If ever a vehicle was `fit for purpose’ it’s this one, a design that is one of the very few that can be said to be timeless. I mean, just look at it – the styling must have taken all of five minutes on the back of a fag packet, if that long, but that ruthless function over form motif is a part of its charm. In many ways it’s antiquated and hopelessly out-classed in terms of its road manners but in other ways it remains the class of the field.

The Defender’s win reinforces what I say to people when they ask how I judge a car. My answer has always been that I ask of it what it is supposed to do, how well it does it and then how well it does it relative to its rivals.

And I think you’ll agree that if you want a multi-seater car that will genuinely go anywhere, pull anything and what’s more continue to do so for many years to come then the Defender has to be up towards the top of your wish list.

As I said, it is one of the few vehicles that defines what `fit for purpose’ is in the automotive world.

The same principles but transferred to a very different environment hold true of the second place car, the Fiat 500. You want a practical supermini offering good value for money but also something with some charisma, some fun built in? Look no further than the Fiat.

All the category winners were deserving victors – the Jaguar XJ took the honours in the heavy metal sections and if the current car can win, just imagine what the new-look version will do this time next year. The Audi A5 took the coupe cup (no surprise) the Mazda MX-5 the best open-topped car to add to its long list of awards, the Skoda Octavia took the small family car (odd given that you can fit in quite a large family!) and the Porsche Cayman – in my view the best car that the German maker currently produces – won the performance car group.

Ford took two wins with the Mondeo voted best estate car and the C-Max voted top MPV.

All worthy victors and all of them very much fit for purpose – albeit different purposes!

Perrys have Land Rover dealerships at Halifax Land Rover and Huddersfield Land Rover