SEVEN DECADES OF DEFENDER
26 March 2007 - Land Rover

There is nothing retiring about the Land Rover Defender as it nears its 60th birthday.

The latest Series4 going on sale from 16 April is getting the most significant range of changes in seven decades since it first turned a wheel on an Anglesey Beach in the late 1940s prior to launch at the Amsterdam motor show in April 1948.

The Series1 remained in production for ten years, the next for a remarkable 30 years and the Series3 achieved two decades of sales which have established Defender not only as a 4WD icon but one of the most familiar shapes on and off road today anywhere in 130 countries in which it is sold, and even in some it is not.

While a familiar sight and name the fact is only two items on the new Defender can be traced back to the original from 1948, the clevis pin on the back door and the cleats securing the canvas cover on some models.

Over the seven decades and close to two-million sales it has evolved but still stayed true to the concept and requirements of its buyers.

Robin Colgan, Defender brand manager, said the last few years had seen a lot of changes at Land Rover with new Range Rover, Discovery3, Range Rover Sport and most recently the latest Freelander, but at every one of these events, the company was asked about the “next” Defender.

“We would argue that the Defender is the most famous 4x4 in the world today because it has been in production for nearly 60 years and we have manufactured just short of two-million.

“It is sold in 130 countries and the UK is our largest market with yearly consistent sales of about 24,000 yet we do not spend on advertising or aggressively market the Defender. We flex our production through the year to reflect customer demand and requirements.”

Defender buyers are not driven by fashion requirements but rather by real-world requirements to get a job done, every day, irrespective of weather, terrain and who have to transport tools, equipment, people, animals to remote areas, said Robin.
“They rely upon the Defender’s capability, its strength, towing capacity and dependability to do the job every day year after year but remain comparatively simple to work on anywhere.

“As a result the residual value of the Defender is very good and this is a further point which makes buyers come back to us time and again.

“The new Defender is the result of the most significant changes ever and the biggest single range of improvements in the vehicle’s history.”

Defender design director Dave Saddington said the Land Rover engineers had laid down the ‘hard points’ in the design and the stylists had set about creating a new model around these while retaining the essential elements of the shape which had been sculptured by practicality and purpose.

There are short front and rear overhangs, high break angles between front and rear wheels, straight sided bodies and a high driving position and a 50cm wading depth.
While the silhouette was the same, a bulge on the bonnet to accommodate the new 2.4 diesel engine and prominent Defender badging front and back set it apart.
The biggest noticeable changes are under the skin, and apart from the new more powerful, fuel efficient and quieter engine with six-speed manual dual range transmission, there are only forward facing seats in each of the three wheelbases.

Four seats in the 90-inch, up to seven in the 110-inch and five in the 130-inch, laid out rising front to back yet capable of folding down to provide a long, wide loadbed and repositioned to give better visibility to occupants.

The lift up vents have gone and a new air conditioning system floods the interior with heat or chilled air as desired.

He added, however, that the use to which a Defender was typically subjected mean it would be inappropriate to fit airbags and it could not be re-engineered to be much more pedestrian friendly than the previous models.

In all over 700 new parts have been fitted to the latest Defender, said Gary Taylor, chief engineer. The 2.4 122PS engine is tuned to give nearly all its power at low and moderate engine speed while the gearing has been refined to enhance towing in low range and refinement in top. Suspension, steering and brakes have also been reworked. There will not be a petrol version.

Land Rover MD John Edwards said the fact that 75pc of Land Rovers ever made are still registered is testament to durability and longevity and the company is today in the strongest position it has ever been.

“Our business and dealerships are in the top three most profitable in the UK and the introduction of the Defender will improve this position even more,” he said.
The new Defender will go on sale in April from £18,645 to £26,605, about £400 more than the current models and initial estimates suggest a 90-inch Station Wagon will retain 54pc of its original value over three years and 36,000 miles.

Land Rover has taken over 800 orders for the new Defender without any customers and few dealers driving it, and the company expect to sell 6,000 in Britain in 12 months.

©RobinRoberts Wheels Within Wales

www.landrover.com

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