John Pearson - Our Man At Large

Dodgy windscreen wipers, dodgy bacon rolls, a fantasy Land Rover wishlist and an inspirational fellow adventurer are all on JP’s radar this month

A press release from Jaguar Land Rover popped into my email inbox with the heading ‘EVERY JAGUAR AND LAND ROVER LAUNCHED FROM 2020 WILL BE ELECTRIFIED’. I appreciate this means that buyers will be offered the choice of fully electric or hybrid power, but on first reading it seems they’ve introduced the ultimate anti-theft device.

Electrifying a vehicle would certainly prevent it from being stolen or the theft of items from inside. Only joking – honest.

Resistance to change

A number of people I’ve spoken to about the Discovery 5 have made derogatory comments about its rear-end styling. I’m not talking about core Land Rover traditionalists, but just everyday folk passing a comment. Most say it looks rather bulbous or fat-bottomed and that they prefer the looks of the previous models – the squarer-rear-ended Discover 3 and 4.

Which is ironic really, because at the time of the launch of the Disco 3 back in 2004 most people said they didn’t like its styling, saying it looked too much like a Transit Connect van, and much preferred the previous model. Perhaps as a nation we just don’t like change.

New blades