This is a car I love to hate. It seems to be the kind of old design people only buy for the name. And it IS an old design. It first came out in 1989! And was later revised slightly in 1999 and 2002.

And , by now, there are so many of these around, it hardly qualify as something "special" to drive...

But it is not without vertues. And it really takes a few days to get used to everything.

At first, the interior seems as clumbsy and odd as the exterior. I say, at first. Because you really need to drive this car for a while to kind of appreciate it.

The first thing I noticed was the extremely slow steering. It takes a lot of turning in order to actually change direction. It's almost dangerous at first. You find yourself not "turning enough".

But you also notice how solid the car is. And the interior, although kind of plasticky, seems as solid as a bank safe. The design of the cupholders is such an after though, it's almost funny...

The suspension never get really smooth. But the whole thing absorbs bumps in a very solid fashion. So again, it is pretty easy to get used to it.

One thing I never got used to , is how rough the V8 engine is. It sounds terrible and cheap. My "base" model was still over $35 000.

Despite the short wheelbase and small rear doors, the back seat is a pretty nice and roomy place.

But it is so high, it's almost scary at first. Being raised higher than the front seats. And already, as a driver, you are sitting higher than most anything else on the road. Which does not inspire confidence when you turn.

But, surprise! It doesn't seem to lean too much. It is actually pretty stable in almost any normal driving conditions. Accelerating on a curved freeway onramp never felt scary...

But Even with the standard V8, it is very slow. So take your time, wherever you go. The worst part of it though, is the mileage. I did about 13 or 14mpg. There is no excuse for that in 2004.

When you "only" spend about $35 000. Things like the space for the sunroof, the sunglasses holder, power this or that switches that are not there, constantly remind you that you should have spent even more. (Like $39 000 for the SE model).

That is pretty tacky, at any price...

At first view, the door reminded me of a 1976 Corolla. But it is actually very sturdy, heavy and the quality of the assembly is very high throughout the whole interior.

What a difference color makes. This light SE interior almost changes everything. And it has the standard dual sunroofs.

Pretty much any other SUV on the market is better suited for the job of taking kids to school or carrying grocery bags from the mall. But the Discovery has what very few cars on the market has: Personality. Besides Jaguars, Minis, New Beetles and very few others, our choices are very, very boring ones.

Despite all its faults, the Discovery is almost fun. And that is pretty much priceless. I was ready to hate it, but I almost missed it when it was gone. Like the obnoxious cousin who came to visit, and turned out not to be that bad. Even kind of fun...

But if you want to know more, you should go HERE.

But WAIT !!!! There's more!

This is the interior of the all new 2005 Discovery! And it looks great!

The exterior does its best to keep the squarish look, and be modern at the same time. Everything will be better. A new Ford V6 will be available. And the V8 will be from Jaguar!

For the 1st time since 1989, everything will be new!