Land Rover celebrates Defender production with limited editions
With Land Rover Defender production set to end in December 2015, the British brand is celebrating the car’s 32-year run by building three special editions: the Autobiography Edition, Heritage Edition and Adventure Edition.
“We wanted to mark the end of Defender production at Solihull with a special edition but coming up with a single identity was impossible,” explained Nick Rogers, Land Rover’s vehicle line director.
“So we developed three very different interpretations of the Defender to reflect its strength and breadth of character.
“Whether our customers want to celebrate Land Rover’s unrivalled off-road heritage, demand the ultimate in terms of design and performance or have a genuine thirst for adventure, there will be a limited-edition Defender that will be fit for purpose.”
Of the new models, the Autobiography Edition will be the most exclusive. Available solely in 90 Station Wagon guise, just 80 examples of the £61,845 4x4 will be sold in the UK.
As you’d expect from a £62,000 Land Rover, the Autobiography Edition will come with what the manufacturer describes as a “comprehensive equipment list”, which includes two-tone paintwork, full Windsor leather upholstery and a power upgrade from 120bhp to 148bhp.
That should see the standard car’s 14.7-second 0-62mph sprint cut to around 13 seconds while the 90mph top speed could be increased to just shy of 100mph.
The next-rarest of the three will be the Heritage Edition, which is inspired by early ‘Series I’ Land Rovers. Set apart by Grasmere Green paint, a white roof and a heritage grille, 400 examples will be made available in August priced from £27,800.
In a nod to the first pre-production Land Rover, which gained its nickname of ‘Huey’ thanks to its HUE 166 number plate, the Heritage Edition will bear black and white HUE 166 logos on the wings.
With 600 examples available in the UK, the £43,495 Adventure Edition is designed to maximise the Defender’s legendary off-road capability. Fitted with additional underbody protection, Goodyear MT/R tyres, unique decals and a leather-trimmed interior, Land Rover says the car, which is available in multiple body styles, “embraces the Defender’s ‘go anywhere, do anything’ attitude”.
To mark the new special editions’ announcement, the company has drawn a huge outline of a Defender in the sand at Red Wharf Bay on the coast of Anglesey. The stunt was done to commemorate then-Rover engineering director Maurice Wilks’ drawing of his concept for a ‘Land Rover’ on the beach in 1947.
Achieved by using six Land Rovers – a Series I, Series II, Series III and an ‘80s Defender as well as modern 90 and 110 Defender variants – towing agricultural harrows through the sand, the sketch measures 1km across.