The Last Defender: Land Rover Phasing Out Its Original 4x4
For off-road enthusiasts, there are two names that reign over all other vehicles: Wrangler and Defender. The first earned its reputation when American G.I used Jeeps to liberate Europe; the second was used to bring the British Empire all over the globe.
After being built continuously for 68 years, the Land Rover Defender will have to retire and let the youngsters take over; last year, the very last original Landie rolled out of the Solihull assembly line.
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It was an important event: the 700 employees were together to mark the occasion and look at the Sage Green vehicle, a Heritage model with a soft top. Next to it sat the very first pre-production Defender; both models were eerily similar. The very last Defender won’t be sold to a customer, but will integrate the Jaguar Land Rover collection.
According to some sources, this doesn’t mean the Defender nametag is gone. We could see a modernized version of the vehicle as early as 2018. Details are not yet available, but we hear that the truck could spawn five different versions: two two-doors (probably a hard and a soft top), a long-wheelbase four-door and a pickup truck, which would be a nice homage to the vehicle that traveled the rutted trails of the world for the last 70 years.
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