Then we'll begin...
Earlier in the year I replaced the seats in the Caterham, with an immediate and noticeable improvement in comfort and ergonomics.
This got me thinking. And it's taken nearly six months for this to produce any results.
Land Rover seats are, like the car itself, basic and functional and most Land Rover drivers are on the whole, like the car itself, heavier than average, robust and built for the outdoors.
These two factors had combined in the Defender to see off the original seats. They were clean enough, but just a little tired and on the driver's side, the frame of the seat back was making a bid for freedom through the upholstery. The driving position in a Defender is an acquired taste too, as long as your taste is a lack of leg room and you have rounded shoulders. I suspect this may be one reason why Land Rovers are mostly bolted together - to facilitate dismantling the car from around the driver when he or she eventually seizes in the unorthodox stance.
Now, as with all things Land Rover, it is possible to spend thousands of pounds on seats and in doing so become an instant armchair expert but I simply can't see the point. Or to be more precise, I can't see the seat when I'm sitting in it so there is absolutely no point in spending megabucks.
And so to eBay. Land Rover parts sourced through the on-line version of Bargain Hunt is always a bit more of a gamble than auctions for other parts, since there will be everything from a set of "wikkid" chrome 52" wheels for a Range Rover Sport to a lump of congealed rust being heralded as a Series II restoration project.
Somewhere in the middle ground I found a pair of non-brand name slightly-used bucket seats. I should add I hate the term "bucket" when referring to seats as it conjurs up two images: An item placed next to a child's bed when they are feeling ill and are in fear of puking and, in a very similar vein, KFC family meals. I mean, who sells food in a bucket?
But anyway, by some remarkable feat of being on-line at the time the auction ended and thus able to stay one step ahead of a secretive rival, "Bidder 15". I bagged the seats for a little over sixty quid and a few days later journied down to Poole to collect them. Upon arrival at the postcode I'd been given, it appeared I'd stumbled on to the set of the next Mad Max film as a sea of broken Land Rovers rolled away to the horizon. Lightweights, Forward Controls, Range Rovers, Discoverys.....all models were represented in this rusty graveyard, some still driveable, others no more than a shell. In the midst of this, inside a large industrial warehouse-style unit, vehicles were slowly giving up their parts to donate to others still on the road, proof that old Land Rovers never die, they simply regenerate. They do fill the air with the smell of EP90 in the process though.
Like all good Land Rover facilities this one was managed by a chap wearing overalls that faded from bright blue at the shoulders to oily black at the ankles. The degree of blackness is usually indicative of time spent fiddling with Land Rovers, the blacker the overalls, the longer the term served. For added kudos, badges of long-since bankrupt British motorfactors can be added.
Now, buying from a photograph can be a little risky but on this occasion I wasn't disappointed. The seats are in fine fettle and relatively new, the only downside being they were liberally dressed with cat hair where the yard's rodent control manager had found a comfy bed. I can see where he was coming from though. The seats came with custom-made runners already attached so within an hour of getting them home they were fitted and straight away it was obvious why Tiddles had chosen them to bed down on. More legroom, better back support and raised sides mean I can now sit in the Land Rover, relax every muscle in my body yet stay upright and not fall out of the seat.
Using a fine wire brush I combed the feline calling card out of the fabric of the seat with ease (wasn't actually that bad), gave both a good Hoovering and stitched up a small split in the driver's back rest. Good as new and so much better.
There is only one small snag....
They're bright red. Mind you, red on silver has a classic Mercedes look about it and as I said at the outset, when I'm sat on the seats, they're hidden anyway.
