Back in the day, you could pick-up a Land Rover by chatting to your mates down the pub. Someone would inevitably know a farmer who's had a Series One languishing in some forgotten field for decades and they'd be happy to let it go for a pittance. My own uncle bought a Series One this way, with enough spares to rebuild the Landy and even a complete, 2nd engine. Probably not for much more than £50.

Now though, there don't appear to be any cheap Land Rovers anymore. eBay is full of overpriced Defenders. Private sellers are becoming aware of the potential value of their Land Rover and those who do have rusted out 60 year old vehicles laying around are holding on to them.

I think this shift is driven by the end of Defender production. It made national news and publicised the sad reality that a model is no longer in production with direct ties to the archetypal Land Rover. Models over 25 years old are being bought and shipped to the North Americas. All of a sudden those overgrown, once forgotten relics are being remembered. And prices are driving up in response.

Could this be a bubble? Perhaps. But resale values for reasonable condition Land Rovers have been strong for a while and steadily climbing. I was talking to a Defender owner the other day who'd purchased a Special Edition 2.2 TDCI 90 just last year. A few months ago, the dealers rang him up and offered him £9,000 more than he'd paid - despite him having added 5k to the odometer. It seems, the world has gone mad for Land Rovers and prices are following suit.

What do you think?

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