Michelin High Mileage

Sir,

Seeing that you once published an article featuring the Range Rover, I thought you may be interested to know that the one I purchased new, in March 1971, has just completed 60,000 miles on the original set of Michelin X 205 x 16 tyres.

Although they will have to be changed in the next few weeks, to remain legal, I consider this a remarkable achievement by Michelin and Rover’s clever four-wheel-drive transmission design, and it would be interesting to know what results other owners are getting from the Firestone equivalent.

What is more surprising is that the car has always been driven hard, is regularly used for towing heavy trailers and loaded 32-ton commercial vehicles to start them on cold mornings.

Tyres apart, this vehicle has proved to be reliable and cheap to run, and has never been back to a garage for servicing or repairs since new, apart from a carburetter adjustment.

I change the sump-oil myself periodically and the replacement of parts has been minimal. Such low maintenance costs more than make up for its consumption of 2-Star petrol of 15 to 20 m.p.g., depending on how it’s handled.

Your magazine has made interesting reading since I started purchasing it in 1958. I was at sea at the time and my mother used to forward it to me each month. It was eagerly awaited by me, and half the ship’s company, even though most of them had never driven a car in their lives!

Penarth G. F. Miller