Land Rover Defender: The beginning of the end of an Icon

Heritage, Adventure, Legacy, Dependable and Rugged. No other words can best define the Land Rover Defender and here at Romans International we are very passionate about the iconic Defender. With over 65 years of history, and having ford every stream and climbed every mountain around all 4 corners of the globe, the Defender will soon be no more. From Dakar Rallies, Red Cross partnerships, UNICEF outings, and even in battles of war in Afghanistan, the Defender has conquered it all. It is arguably one of the most recognisable cars in the world and this national icon will sure leave a mark in the global automotive history.

To mark this momentous occasion, Land Rover have launched three limited edition Defenders to honour the beginning of the end for the iconic British model.

Autobiography Limited Edition

Being the rarest car of the three, Land Rover will only produce 80 examples for the UK market and the model will only be available as a 90 station wagon. Priced from £61,845, making it the most expensive factory production Defender ever, the Autobiography Edition gets a power upgrade from 122 bhp to 150 bhp and an increase in torque from 265lb ft to 295lb ft. Lovely exterior features have also been added including a two tone paint scheme where the upper body such as the grille, bonnet, wheel arches and headlight surrounds are finished off in Santorini Black and the lower body is done in an Autobiography finish. The theme carries on inside as the seats, headlining and dashboard are hand finished in Land Rovers Premium Full Windsor Leather and Autobiography duo tone colours. Other features include privacy glass, LED projector headlamps, Audio upgrade, side steps, under body protection shield, Autobiography embossed carpet mats, aluminium finishes to the fuel cap, exterior and interior door handles and door locks.

Adventure Limited Edition

With only 600 models available to the UK and as the name suggests, this Defender is for those who want to truly climb every mountain and ford every stream. Available in either the 90 or 110 station wagon and prices starting from £43,495 when it goes on sale in August; the adventure edition gets the same upgraded engine as the Autobiography. But this model features more off-road gear such as an expedition snorkel, roof rack and ladder, new front and side underbody protection and Gloss black split-spoke Diamond Turned alloys with chunky Goodyear tyres. You also get a choice of three exterior colours and interior trims such as Pheonix Orange with Ebony Windsor Leather, Yulong White with Ebony Windsor Leather and Corris Grey with Ebony/Pimento Windsor Leather. This car is certainly the most rugged of the three and would not look out of place at the top of Mount Everest.

Heritage Limited Edition

With only 400 UK models being built, the Heritage will be available in a 90 station wagon or hard top and 110 station wagon. The car will be offered in a bespoke metallic “Grasmere Green” paint with an Alaska White contrast roof, silver front bumper and body coloured steel wheels.  Step inside the car and you will be greeted with lovely Almond cloth interior seats with the Heritage logo stitched to the seat backs and a perforated leather steering wheel and gear knob. In tribute to the first pre-production Series 1 Land Rover from 1947, Land Rover has also integrated the HUE 166 graphics, which arguably increases the cars novelty appeal. With prices starting from £28,800, this Defender will debatably be the most popular amongst the purists because of its simplicity and rendition to the bare basics original.

So how will this effect the likes of Twisted Automotive:

There is no doubt that the launch of these 3 editions has been inspired by the huge success of Twisted Automotive, the world’s leading Defender modification company. The reason Twisted Automotive are so respected is due to the unprecedented quality of their work, their dedication to improving the car and their ability to tailor any Defender to the customer’s precise requirements. Whether Land Rover will be able to match the quality of Twisted’s work is yet to be acknowledeged but here at Romans International, authorised dealers for Twisted Automotive, we will aim to regularly stock the latest Twisted performance cars and with Land Rover ceasing the Defender production by the end of 2015, along with Twisted we will aim to continue the Defender legacy beyond this.