10 Defining Moments for the Land Rover Defender

In 1947, Chief Engineer at Rover, Maurice Wilks, needed to keep his staff busy during the second World War and while on holiday at Anglesey with his brother, Spencer, he sketched a huge Defender outline into the sand at Red Wharf Bay. The story began.

In April 1948 the Land Rover was displayed to the public at the Amsterdam show, at the time the vehicle followed a cost-cutting mantra and things like the spare wheel and even doors were optional extras. This idea was later ditched but the aesthetic of the original Land Rover survived.

It didn’t take long for Land Rover to realise the Series I model wasn’t just fit for commercial use, and Land Rover were quick to turn the Series I into a seven seat people carrier from October 1948.

In April 1958, after 10 years of the Series I, an evolutionary update was made to the Land Rover to produce the Series II, a design which Land Rover stayed true to. The basic, clean and simple design was one that they stuck with all the way through to the present day with changes only coming when necessary technology was developed.

In April 1969 Land Rover made the decision to slightly alter the front profile of the Defender, with headlamps going from within the front grille (where the surround wings protected them from damage by branches or vegetation) to being recessed, and therefore protected, in the front of the wings. This solution continued up until the end of production earlier this year.

After the successful introduction of the Land Rover Discovery, the original Land Rover finally earns its title we recognise today as the ‘Defender 90’ and ‘Defender 110.’ The name is selected due to the vehicles Military pedigree and some marques from the Discovery are passed down, namely the flared arches and the Tdi diesel engine which had proven very popular.

Once again, the bodystyle stays true, but Land Rover introduced aesthetically pleasing tweaks to the options list such as metallic paint, alloy wheels and body coloured roofs. Interior trim is also improved to make the cabin more welcoming. Aesthetically, the Defender remains a Defender.

In 1998 the Defender was gifted a new lease of life with the purpose built, all-new 2.5 litre, five-cylinder turbodiesel engine called the Td5. The outgoing Tdi was becoming dated and couldn’t keep up with the increasingly stringent Euro III emissions regulations. Purists were initially sceptical of this new engine, as it involved far more electronics which they believed would fail in extreme conditions. Luckily this proved not to be the case and the Td5 went on to be a solid performer.

In December 2015, The 2 millionth Land Rover Defender, ‘S90 HUE’, produced at the Solihull plant rolled off the factory line to be auctioned for a staggering £400,000 at Bonhams auction. Proceeds from the vehicle were donated to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies as well as an animal rescue charity called Born Free.

This unique vehicle boasted graphics of Red Wharf Bay (remember, where the Defender first began) embroidered into the seats and engraved into the body work. The car went to a Qatari investor.

On the 29th of January 2016, the last Land Rover Defender rolled out the plant at Solihull, the end of 68 years of constant production. The last example was clapped across the completion by 700 employees of past and present and the day was described as an emotional send off to the most decorated off road vehicle the world has ever seen. A true British treasure.

Read more about the momentous occasion here >