It's not for nothing, though, that Clarkson described it as the most unreliable 4x4 in the world, and found himself surprised to proclaim (at the end of the Bolivia special) that it was also the most reliable 4x4 in the world after it had no mechanical problems save overheating on four British carburetors while the…

A powertrain swap is hard to get right on one of these, taking the lightness of the original engine and other factors into account, and ruins some of the unique character (with the AWD, etc. presumably being axed to 4wd). Also, the powertrain is the part least likely to backstab you directly in a British electronics…

The RRs have always been a bit more flakey than the Series/Defender in that regard, and a higher dependence on electrics in the era of Lucas'ey electrics is a recipe for disaster. That being said, the mechanicals aren't really that bad once you get away from the original 3.5's *4* vacuum carburetors (shudder) and…

...how was the air suspension? I only ask because two things could make it terrifying on the road: the height (a feature, not a bug), and being wobbly, which is not really by design.

Miles on the clock don't bother me that much, since this isn't a vehicle you'd own to put huge miles on anyway. It's also old enough that it's less "feature rich" in an "oh my god, stop it with the farking electric bugs already" way. Outside that, I've seen worse for the same money.

Flxibles are sexier. This is established fact.

Unfortunately, there's really only one model line of buses shown in the film that I saw. I didn't see anything other than variants of the GM/Yellow Coach "Old look" bus. While other manufacturers were joined at the hip to GM, there's not really any representation; I was hoping for a Flxible at the least.

I only heard the song for the first time in Brutal Legend, and wholeheartedly agree that the Budgie version(as in the game) is better. To the point I immediately started trying to learn the song: it's that good.

Well, I suppose I could make a Going the Distance parody, but I had figured Electric Eye was funnier given the context.

I also did an Alan Parsons Project one, if you're interested. In reply to the first.

And for good measure:

Up here on the roof

The Praying Mantis tank: because sometimes you want to elevate your machine guns *over* the hedge to shoot people, okay?

The Sherman BARV (Beach Armored Recovery Vehicle): Why build a rig for the tank to swim with if you can just make the tank tall enough to wade 9 feet of water? Also, wooden boards on the front to push other tanks to safety, but no winch.

Honorable mention: the British A39 Tortoise. Only six were built; most notable for being designed to be immune to all German guns of the time. The entire upper hull is a single piece of cast iron, with the turret integral and the main gun in a ball turret. The gun was also the largest fitted to a British tank platform…

I'd say there's a fairly easy test that doesn't require access to someone's car, or odd looks at their fingernails, or anything of that nature:

The best thing about biplanes is that they can decapitate twice as many people, or decapitate people twice!

That works unless the car makers are inveterate liars, which sometimes they are. It's also useful to people with cars whose manuals are punishingly obtuse or have gone walkabout.

Particularly notable in that the Turbonique drag axles were rocket turboshafts and actually driving the rear wheels. Puts the "A" in "AAAAAAAAA!"

I'm not sure if Phalanx/ Air Sailor (pictured) or Hydrus/Sea Dragon from Shadow of the Colossus are dragons quite in the classical mold, but then again, neither is Ripley, and Phalanx in particular is quite awe-inspiring.