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Land Rover Defender

Aney machanla, I was just thinking back to the moment that started it all for me. I was about 14 or 15 years old, coming back from a relative's house in Bandarawela. My uncle pulled up in a rugged old Series III, the one with the cracked vinyl seats and half a door panel missing. It was raining. He told me to hop in, and I remember how heavy that door felt, how the rain tapped the roof, and the way the engine purred like it had secrets.

He took me on a back road through a tea estate. No radio. Just the sound of the gears, the engine, and the tires crunching gravel. That's when I felt it—this isn't just a vehicle. It's an experience.

Since then, even though I drove a Maruti, then a Prius (big mistake 😅), I never forgot that Defender. I finally bought my first 110 last year, and I swear every time I drive it, that old Bandarawela feeling comes back.

Anyone else remember their first Landy ride? Tell us where, when, and how it changed your idea of driving.

I know what you mean, bro. My first Defender ride was in Ampara after the floods back in 2004. We were delivering supplies and there were only two vehicles that could go through the mud—an old Unimog and a Defender 90. That Defender carried 5 people, 100kg of rice, and a goat. Didn't complain once.

I was 100% a Mitsubishi man until that day. After that... only Landy. Bought a 300TDi three years later and never looked back.