When Ann-Katrin Klusak is on the road with the Defender, she says it’s “so loud in the interior that you can hardly hear yourself speak – and it doesn’t have any creature comforts either”. For most people, this would probably be reason enough to steer clear of a car like this. But Ann-Katrin sees things very differently. Just the sound of her off-road vehicle’s engine makes her heart sing – and has done for 22 years. By now, her dream car is so old that it has accompanied her on “a great many wonderful road trips”.
These days, she is not alone in her love for her four-wheeled friend – her whole family has been on board for over a decade. Before their children arrived, Ann-Katrin and her husband first travelled to France and the Alps, taking in Switzerland and often Austria – but with their two boys, they then headed for Bavaria, the Czech Republic and her native Swabia. Even today, her off-road vehicle is rarely at home during the holidays. A ridge tent was added to the roof tent for their family camping trips, since when both have been transported in a trailer.
The advantages of having an off-road vehicle really come to the fore when she talks about the best trip they ever went on, which led them to France via a waterway to the Île de Noirmoutier. It is possible to reach the island by land but because of the tide, it is only accessible for a few hours a day. As Ann-Katrin recalls: “However, the water wasn’t so high that we needed to use our intake snorkel.”
But what led Ann-Katrin to opt for such an unusual car in the first place? On her way to university in Bamberg, she used to cycle past a car dealership where there was a Defender parked outside. One day, she went in to ask if she could take it for a test drive. “The dealer obviously had great intuition”, she recalls. She was allowed to come over every now and then to take the car for a spin on her own, cruising through Bamberg’s wonderful landscapes.
And it was this very dealer who, some years later, helped Ann-Kathrin to acquire the Defender that she has today. In the meantime, she had graduated from university and was already working at Messe Frankfurt. The dealer called her to ask if she would be interested in buying a special model that he was having trouble selling because it had “a few extra features – like electric windows and heated driver and passenger seats – that dyed-in-the-wool Defender fans tend to find uncool”.
Even today, the Defender is still her dream car – especially since they are not made anymore. She also says that the air vents at the front are worth their weight in gold in the summer months and that the steep windscreen protects the driver from blinding lights. But without the support and understanding of her family – not to mention the technically-minded garage neighbour who regularly helps out with minor repairs – this automotive love story may well have died out years ago.
Ann-Katrin sees her Defender as a recreational vehicle rather than an everyday runabout. And she wants to keep it that way. “I hope it lasts another eight years – then it will get a special licence plate with an H on the end”, she says with a smile. “This stands for ‘historic’ – a veritable vintage car!”
At this year’s Automechanika, which is being held in Frankfurt between 8 and 12 September, there will be plenty of monumental vehicles and a genuine off-road atmosphere to enjoy at the Experience Park. The supporting programme of the world’s leading trade fair for the automotive aftermarket offers many other hands-on formats, exciting new ideas and a lively exchange of views.