Things have slowed right down in the world of aluminium car ownership.
The cars themselves haven't slowed down, I mean come on, if the Land Rover slowed down any more it'd stop.
No, it's a weather thing. The Caterham has remained largely hibernated, whilst the characteristic ease with which Land Rovers shrug off bad weather has become so much the norm lately as to be routine. It's probably why I like it. No matter how heavy the rain, how blowey the leaves or deep the snow, there's always this underlying feeling of reassurance that the square corners and flat front of the Landy will fend off the worst that Nature has to offer without hardly noticing. The thick-set bulk of the Defender feels as right for bad weather as the stripped-out minimalism of the Caterham does for good weather. Or at least, I have a feint memory to this effect.
Two little jobs have got done. Both electrical funnily enough. More than coincidence, this is positively surprising, since fiddling with the electrical system of either car is something as near the top of my favourite things list as a Vauxhall Astra.
Where the Land Rover once had the means to heat one cigar lighter, it now has two. Easy enough wiring, but as with most things in the cabin of any Land Rover, the tricky bit was finding somewhere to mount the Siamese lighter socket. In the end, I completely removed the original single lighter socket and hard-wired the double one, originally designed to be a plug-in accessory, direct to the supply in the dash.
The result of this is a wider choice of gadgety nonsense powered by the car at any one time. Previously, the number of options was just three: iPod, SatNav or phone charger. With the cunning application of a little of the mathematics of choice, the options have risen to six, three of which are natty combinations. I suppose you could say I've doubled the car's capability, all be it in one very small area.
The Caterham has also had a capability expansion, again very easy to install - A high level brake light. This is a brake light set at a high level. Not a light to warn of stopping in the Alps.
The cars themselves haven't slowed down, I mean come on, if the Land Rover slowed down any more it'd stop.
No, it's a weather thing. The Caterham has remained largely hibernated, whilst the characteristic ease with which Land Rovers shrug off bad weather has become so much the norm lately as to be routine. It's probably why I like it. No matter how heavy the rain, how blowey the leaves or deep the snow, there's always this underlying feeling of reassurance that the square corners and flat front of the Landy will fend off the worst that Nature has to offer without hardly noticing. The thick-set bulk of the Defender feels as right for bad weather as the stripped-out minimalism of the Caterham does for good weather. Or at least, I have a feint memory to this effect.
Two little jobs have got done. Both electrical funnily enough. More than coincidence, this is positively surprising, since fiddling with the electrical system of either car is something as near the top of my favourite things list as a Vauxhall Astra.
Where the Land Rover once had the means to heat one cigar lighter, it now has two. Easy enough wiring, but as with most things in the cabin of any Land Rover, the tricky bit was finding somewhere to mount the Siamese lighter socket. In the end, I completely removed the original single lighter socket and hard-wired the double one, originally designed to be a plug-in accessory, direct to the supply in the dash.
The result of this is a wider choice of gadgety nonsense powered by the car at any one time. Previously, the number of options was just three: iPod, SatNav or phone charger. With the cunning application of a little of the mathematics of choice, the options have risen to six, three of which are natty combinations. I suppose you could say I've doubled the car's capability, all be it in one very small area.
The Caterham has also had a capability expansion, again very easy to install - A high level brake light. This is a brake light set at a high level. Not a light to warn of stopping in the Alps.
