Out of all the classic off-road vehicles ever made, the Land Rover Series is one of the most revered and a personal favorite of mine as well. Furthermore, a hefty 67 years have passed since the first unit of the Series I rolled off the Solihull plant’s assembly line.
Ever since I was little and my dad rented a Defender 90 on a weekend trip to the mountain side, I was fascinated with the proverbial “climb every mountain, ford every stream” mantra. Heck, if I remember correctly, my dad told me the predecessor of the Defender 90 predates the dinosaurs.
Of course I knew he was joking, but did you know that the Land Rover Series came 10 years before Michael Jackson was born? Yeah, it’s got a bucketload of pedigree and it’s a well-known fact that for better offroading capabilities you will need a Humvee or other military-spec four-wheeled vehicles.
Well then, it’s about time to deliver a bit of bad news - the Land Rover Defender will be phased out of production in December 2015. Why? Euro 6 regulations, extremely old chassis technology, an interior as inviting as an Egyptian prison and many other details which are so last century.
Fret not though, a replacement for the Defender will arrive in the summer of 2016, featuring styling cues inspired by the 2011 Land Rover DC 100 concept vehicle, garnished with a new platform, Ingenium turbocharged powerplants and hi-tech features that are worthy of the third millenium.
But ’til the new kid on the block will hit dealerships, Land Rover marked the launch of 3 limited edition models with a 1 kilometer sand drawing at Red Wharf Bay in the United Kingdom. To find out more about the 3 limited-run Landies, refer to the video, photo gallery and press release below.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News