Can't let Sleeping Dogs lie

It's the 60th anniversary of the Land Cruiser, for anyone who hasn't seen Toyota's publicity surrounding the milestone. 4wdNewz's contribution to the celebration is these images from the 1977 film Sleeping Dogs in which sinister "special police" chase our heroes in a quartet of Cruisers. It was the first feature by director Roger Donaldson and was the first full-length 35mm film produced entirely in New Zealand. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about the movie. As for the Land Cruisers, I haven't been able to find out anything. Would be interesting to know who bought them and what finally happened to them.

One for the V6 Prado

Ready to scorn the V6 Prado now in my hands, I've had the wind knocked from my sails, so to speak. It's returning 14.5 litres per 100km overall, quite excellent for a big, porky 4WD. It's easy to see figures in the 17s on V6s. However, it has a sting in its manifold, it needs 95 octane, or better. So, ouch. Does it have further surprises in store? Stay tuned.

Archibalds embraces 'crapathon'

One of the amusing sidelights of internet trading is the Crapathon sales of Hamilton-based merchandise mover 1-Day. For a modest outlay, they send you a box of who-knows-what,  but guaranteed to be worth the price. Now, on Trademe, Archibalds, the Christchurch Land Rover dealer, is doing something similar with a huge box of Land Rover parts for a $1 reserve (auction closes Apr 30). Only this time you do know what you're getting because they provide a list. The items range from a TD4 Freelander decal to a Defender injector relief valve. Good on you Archibalds, it's great to see a dealership parts department being pro-active, rather than just sitting there waiting to separate us from our money for parts we could have imported for half the price … if only we'd known we'd need them!

UPDATE: The auction attracted 25 bids and the box sold for $76.