A couple of points
The Canadian military did trial a couple of Landrover forward controls in the late 70’s early 80’s They were fairly similar to the Brit version except for a hard GRP cab that was fitted. Also the landrover was tested during the last batch of trials, which had the G-wagon selected. These two vehicles were sitting in a scrapyard in Ontario last I heard.
As far as the cold goes, the Landrover does quite well in CFB Suffield and the newer Wolf version is with the Norwegian Commando’s fitted with an insulated tarp and an extra heater, working in Arctic conditions.
I have owned landrovers for twenty plus years and have never found cold anymore of an issue with them as any other vehicle. Any vehicle that is poorly maintained and not prepared for the cold will have problems.
I think the G-wagon is good, but I would have preferred the 110 & 90 defender. I am also know that politics, budget and location of build has as much or more of a influence in the selection of military vehicles than which vehicle does the best. I would never use the military selection as a guide to which vehicle is better.
Ford has had little time to really show any impacts on Landrover. Most of the positive impacts at Landrover can be traced to Honda’s 20% ownership, which in my view pointed Landrover in the right direction. Honda got out of Landrover when BMW came in, the worst thing that could have happened. BMW raped and pillaged Landrover and then left, most of the licences for the engines will run out in three or four years, and then Landrover will have to find new ones (Honda left as they wanted to increase their share). The good news is that Ford has deep pockets and lots of R&D facilities and will be able to sell Landrover new engine & tranny technology. Hopefully Landrover will not use any of Fords frame and suspension stuff, as it is mostly crap.
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