I own a 1985 Land Rover - it always breaks down but it's better than a £106k Range Rover

When Tati Reed bought a battered and broken 1985 Land Rover, little did she realise she had found the car of her wildest dreams - and one that would transform her life. The 23-year-old snapped up the rusty Land Rover 90 a couple of years ago with nothing more than an idea to go camping with a roof tent for two weeks around France.

Not knowing the first thing about cars or one end of a spark plug from another, she faced a baptism of fire as the now-40-year-old off-roader repeatedly broke down with fault after fault. For most people, it would be a holiday from hell. But the unlikely bond a naive Tati developed with her beaten-up car by tending to its every need has not only taken her all over the world, but into millions of people's lives through their smartphones. Sharing the trials and tribulations of her breakdown-filled journeys with the Landy - which she affectionately names Blue Tit - on social media, she has amassed a whopping 490,000 Instagram followers.

Her first video, in which she jokingly caresses her C-registered car like it is a multi-thousand-pound Bentley, racked up a staggering 23million views.

Some of her most recent videos show her washing her filthy, mud-covered second Land Rover - a 1998 white 110 named Big Richard - after a 200km off-road trip through Romania, and an adventurous trip to the beach in Greece.

She regularly gets tens of thousands of views on Instagram and TikTok for clips of even the most mundane activities, such as changing the engine oil. She also got the chance to film a "breakfast date" with in Los Angeles for YouTube.

In a world where the most coveted cars are expensive scarlet red Ferraris or James Bond-style Aston Martins, Tati's brutally honest and humorous posts show that even the most raw and basic vehicles can bring unbridled joy.

And her giant following perhaps also proves that, whatever their ups and downs, legendary Land Rovers hold a special place in people's hearts.

"It kind of all started with the intention of going around France for two weeks," she tells the Express after returning from a 5,000-mile all-terrain road trip across Europe.

"I didn't quite realise that cars could break down. I was like, oh, they just kind of look cool, and that's about it. And then I found a whole can of worms."

Anything that could have gone wrong with Blue Tit has - but Tati, from West Sussex, says learning how to fix the vehicle despite having no prior mechanical knowledge has made her love it even more.

"There's a weird closeness between car and you when you're living out of it, driving it every day, and your whole survival is out of this car," says Tati.

"You kind of form this weird little bond. So yeah, we fell in love.

"I didn't blame her for a breakdown, because before I bought her, she spent 13 years sitting on the side of the road unloved, untouched. So I kind of felt a bit sorry for her."

Speaking of her many repair jobs on Blue Tit, Tati says: "I enjoy the learning process of it, and it's also very, very solution-y. You're broken down, you figure something out, and then it works again, so the payoff is fantastic.

"Plus, I'd never really gone travelling before. I know it was just Europe and it's not that adventurous, but it felt adventurous to me - and being on your own wheels and timeline is just really, really nice, and she gave me all of that."

Since she started adding content to her @overintherover Instagram account just over two years ago, Tati has travelled with Blue Tit across Europe to Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Austria, as well as a few trips closer to home to the Scottish Highlands and Welsh mountains.

Her most memorable journeys include her first trip in the Land Rover to France, and camping among Alpine mountains in Italy. Last month, she filmed videos with Big Richard meeting classic Porsches in the Austrian Alps.

"I think nothing beats the total naivety and hilarity of that first trip to France and the broken-down, hopeless state we were in," she says.

"It was just ridiculous and so much fun. So I think that first trip will always be my favourite."

She has bought Big Richard, which is larger than Blue Tit, to enable her to go further afield to hotter and colder climates. Big Richard's size also means she can camp more safely in the vehicle during longer trips away.

"I basically want to be able to adventure more," she says.

"I want to be able to go further. This engine's a little bit more modern, but still hasn't got electric stuff.

"There's more space and I can, if required, sit at the back, lock myself up, and no one will know I'm in there - whereas in Blue Tit, it's like sitting in a greenhouse."

Asked why she chooses Land Rovers over more glamorous supercars, Tati - who keeps the reason behind the names Blue Tit and Big Richard a closely guarded secret - says: "I just love them because you can do everything in them.

"They facilitate everything. They don't look out of place anywhere.

"I understand people loving the sports car, but I live in the countryside. I absolutely love a fast car, but unfortunately, the ground clearance on them isn't great.

"In an ideal world, I'd have like a million cars and there would be different ones for different purposes - but it's the go anywhere, do anything bit of a Land Rover that I like.

"Maybe when I'm older and have money, then I'll get other cars as well. But for now, they're the best.

"I want to be able to do the things I enjoy, which most of the time is not on Tarmac roads.

"Land Rovers have an incredibly loyal following because they've been around and they've done so much.

"There's such a massive family that I've kind of, accidentally, unbeknownst to me, tapped into.

"I love Land Rovers, and if that's fun for people to watch, then fantastic."

Today's modern off-roaders are a world away from their 80s counterparts, both in price and technology.

A 25 plate Range Rover will set you back at least £106,000 and boasts luxurious interiors with 13-inch touch screens. Older forerunners do not even have electric windows.

Yet despite all the mod cons, Tati believes the old ways are the best when it comes to Land Rovers.

Asked if older Land Rovers have more character than newer models, she replies: "Eleven thousand per cent yes.

"They're just so easy. There's less electrics. It's just less complicated. They're lighter. Parts, for the most part, aren't that expensive.

"The Series One Land Rovers can do everything and anything that I bet you most modern 4x4s can do. They've got all the things you need.

"They just have so much more personality. They smell amazing. Yeah, you've got an oil leak here and a door that doesn't shut there, but you grow to love all these things because of the amazing bits and bobs they can do.

"It's great that modern cars are so unbelievably reliable, but they're so good they're kind of boring."

Motoring has traditionally been a male-dominated industry, but Tati believes her success as a content creator in the industry shows how things are changing.

"There are more girls in the industry in lots of different fields," she says.

"I think it's changing to facilitate more opportunities in more broad areas, because if you want to be a girl in the car world, you don't just have to go and be a mechanic. There are a million and one jobs, and you can work in whatever.

"It's the same with anything, not just the car world - just give it a go.

"It helps if you've got very lovely, supportive people around you who will support you having a go, because then it feels a bit less scary.

"But there are a million different avenues in the car world, so I think it's changing to facilitate more opportunities in broad areas.

"If you don't like it, fine. If you like it, fantastic. I'm just a fan of giving things a go."

If Tati has proved one thing, it is that Land Rovers are so versatile they can not only power through muddy ditches and mountains, but bring a whole load of fun and adventure too.