Vehicle Story
Land Rover. Today it’s a luxury car brand for people who like to sit as high as an HGV driver and have four-wheel-drive on the M25. But back in the day it was a proper utility vehicle. The Defender followed a long line of Land Rovers going right back to, would you believe, 1948. You could drive it around the London orbital if you wanted, or just cut straight across the middle.
If aliens landed on earth and there were no humans left, what vehicle would they see most of lying around, all over the globe? The Land Rover, almost certainly. Is there a country without one? We doubt it. The Land Rover has been there, seen it all and worn the battle scars to prove it.
If someone had told you in 1948 that the new Land Rover would still be in production 68 years later, you’d have laughed your head off. Nonetheless, despite myriad differences the last of the line 2016 Defender was essentially the same vehicle – an astonishing record that will surely stand forever.
When it was launched in 1948 it was initially available with either the 2-litre petrol or diesel engine, a move to larger and more powerful engines was inevitable; tectonic plates move faster than an early Series Land Rover, even with your foot flat to the floor.
And while the 2.25-litre diesel engine that joined the lineup with the introduction of the Series 2a in 1961 isn’t the last word in power or refinement, it is hugely reliable and will run forever on the merest whiff of an oily rag. It is, therefore, utterly in keeping with the rest of the vehicle, which is distinctly agricultural but as tough as a miner’s steel-toe-capped boots. But boy was it slow.
The 72bhp petrol engine, on the other hand, might displace the same as its diesel stablemate but it is a completely different animal being silky smooth and a joy to rev. Not so much of a joy when it is time to fill up of course but then everything in life has a cost and most agree that the moderate increase in fuel consumption is a small price to pay for what is indisputably a better driving experience.
Then in 1983 came the Land Rover Defender, a vehicle that has rightly earned its place as one of the most influential of the 21st century. Able to trace its lineage back to the very first post-war Land Rover (and not a lot of squinting is necessary to bridge the seventy-year gap between old and new), the Defender might not be the last word in civility but by heck it’s a survivor.
The Land Rover became a much more sprightly vehicle when, with the Defender, it got a proper turbo diesel engine. Torque, performance and fuel economy all improved, and it’s these machines that make the most useable Land Rovers. And of course, they can all be repaired and maintained by anyone competent with an adjustable spanner and a pocketful of loose change, which makes them ideal as a starter classic, especially when you consider their ever climbing resale values and the low cost of insurance.
With a torquey 2.5-litre five cylinder turbo diesel engine the vehicle had the grunt and off-road capability that made it a must-have for farmers, explorers and the military the world over – US Special Forces used Defenders, not Humvees.
Such is the Defender’s lasting appeal that when Land Rover finally pulled the production plug in 2016, UK born businessman Jim Ratcliffe decided to develop a new ‘Defender’ called the Grenadier, and originally announced it would be built in the UK, before eventually moving planned production to France.
Of course, Land Rover themselves build a Defender today. You’ll see plenty on the M25, but as far as we’re aware, the British Army hasn’t bought any.
