Land Rover has officially announced that its longest-lived vehicle, the Defender, will finally cease production early next year. In production since 1982 in its current form, and with some direct links all the way back to the original 1948 Series I Land Rover, the Defender is, even in an age of multiple Range Rovers, the icon of both the company and of off-roading in general. While it's climbed every mountain and forded every stream since it was introduced, it's finally being killed off by emissions and safety legislation - hurdles that the ancient design can simply no longer surmount.
In order to give the Defender a good send off, Land Rover is putting three special edition models on sale, dubbed Autobiography, Heritage and Adventure. The Autobiography is a luxury model and features an all-black exterior, full leather interior (including the roof lining) and LED headlights. It also gets a boost in power from 121hp to 148hp.
Land Rover celebrated the arrival of these three editions by taking them to the beach in Wales where the car's inventor, Maurice Wilkes, first sketched a rough outline in the sand. Pulling far harrows behind them, they then carved a 1km-wide image of a Defender into the sand.
The Heritage plays obvious homage to the original Land Rover, and in particular to ‘Huey’ - the first production Land Rover, registration number HUE 166. That number forms the basis of special graphics on top of the Grassmere Green pain work, and the Heritage also gets a new grille design that lifts styling from the Series 1, as well as special aluminium trim in the cabin.
Finally, there’s the Adventure. This bright orange model (it also comes in white or grey) gets the same 148hp engine as the Autobiography and lives up wo its name by sporting a rugged ‘Expedition’ roof rack, a snorkel and a ladder for climbing up on the roof. It gets both the leather interior and the special aluminium cabin trim.
While it's something of a sad day for classic Land Rover fans, there is it seems more to come. Land Rover has confirmed that it's looking at overseas production of the Defender post-2016, although these cars will not be legally available for sale in Europe. India, the home of Land Rover's owner Tata Group, is the most likely destination.
Closer to home, it's now looking certain that the convertible version of the Range Rover Evoque will go on sale later this year. Land Rover showed a concept version in 2012 and with the recovery in new car sales, its US dealers are now apparently clamouring for such a car. It's likely to get a first public outing at the Goodwood Festival Of Speed in June of this year.
