Land Rover Defender NAS or making unwanted drama with a car 0
Land Rover Defender was the United States is a status symbol, glamor and high economic power rather than a tough workhorse. In fact nobody in America would dare use your Defender off a perfectly paved highway. I still remember that Popular Mechanics article I read in the early 90′s on the Land Rover Defender NAS (North American Specification) and the photo accompanying the story: an incredibly nice and clean defend parked between a Ferrari and a Lamborghini. Something was wrong and that snapshot.
To understand this picture (and the whole concept) would have to get in history. The transportation department of the United States only allowed the marketing of the Defender after fulfilling certain requirements:
* Adapting to American standards and indicator lights
* Installation of external integral roll bars
* Multi-zone air conditioning
* Deformable plastic fenders
This greatly increased the price, so that the segment who was headed over the yuppie city farmer thought to bring a European car is synonymous with status expensive. However, if the buyer was someone Defender affluent and indulgent, it is common to want a more sophisticated equipment such as leather seats or a dash more striking than the conventional.
This spiral led to the rising price of Defender to a point that did not pose a danger to the local road industry led by the Jeep Wrangler, which had government protection against foreign threats.
In 1997, the transportation department of the United States demanded the installation of airbags for all passengers in the Defender and a rethinking of the structure of the doors, which made abandoned Land Rover