Alright, hands up those of you who would like to be in RFC, but really can't fork up the cash to run a mighty state-of-the-art 4x4 to "tear up" the competition? (We raise ours to that question). Well what would you say if we told you that for something in the region of RM15K (approx. US$4 grand) or there about, you too, can join in the other devotees to make your pilgrimage to the mecca of hardcore off-road action? Add to that, you actually get to bring that vehicle back to use it for the weekends off-the-road, having fun with fellow enthusiasts! Too good to be true? Well, we found just the set of wheels for the budget conscious - the beloved Land Rover 109.

Ok, so it isn't exactly the most glamorous of rides, its rattles like a tractor and is not the last word in creature comfort when its onroad. As we found out in our rendevous in RFC, touring with the Land Rover Owners Club of Malaysia, these vehicles, with more than 20 yrs under their belts, still kicks mud - big time. Hardy enough to be the vehicle of choice in recce missions for RFC and as recovery vehicles in ultra-tough Special Stages like the Elephant Mud-Hole.

Interested already? Here's a tip though, never speak ill of these lovely ladies before their owners, lest you get engine oil thrown in your face! For the uninitiated, Land Rovers, from the "Series", to the "LightWeight", to the Defenders of today remain among the sultans of the off-road, although "Jeep" owners will always dispute with that claim. To the members of the club, these Land Rovers are their jewels, their baby, the object of their love and devotion.

While newer machineries boast of cutting-edge technologies, efficient setups, etc, the Land Rover is supreme to them all in extreme conditions with its one ultimate weapon - simplity. As Dan from LROM magazine (UK) put it, "they (Landies) are amazingly simple and they just run and run". Its been proven that the Land Rover Series and Defenders would run in amazingly harsh conditions, from being absolutely dry of lubricants to running without the clutch, these babies will only run out after the drivers expire!

Anyway, the webmaster and editor of JeepNation has travelled the better part of Peninsular Malaysia in a 109, accompanied by other Series II from the club who are serving as Official Vehicles for RFC2000. Lovingly coined as "the Red Indians" for their crimson livery, these Series IIs (still) run on standard engines, with a grand output of not more than 90 horses. To squeeze every ounce of power from the engines, these Landies run without air filters - with no problems at all! To compensate for the rough wear on the engines, only the thickest of lubricants are used to fill in the gaps in the sleeves. Truth is, we couldn't care less, these hardy engines are simply too tolerant to be bothered with trivalities like dust in its combustion chambers anyway.

Even at standard specs, besides throwing in the (by now) de facto standard Extreme Trekkers for the mud pools, the Land Rovers can pretty much take all the terrain can throw in its way. The fact is that the Land Rovers have such well designed suspension strokes that it is just enough to takle the terrain. To further enhance its off road performance, though, auto-mechanic cum Land Rover diehard, Vicky from the club has ingeniously adopted the heavy-duty Volvo axles to his fleet of Land Rovers (yes, he likes them so much, he collects them!). With these axles, the suspension gains more stroke and compression. Coupled with a simple lift setup, these Land Rovers just swallows up the trenches and humps in its stride.