THE Land Rover Defender encapsulates the Solihull off-road manufacturer’s history, and there’s nothing retro about it. Retro suggests a revival of something from the past - while the Defender is the past living on into the present. The limited edition Defender 110 SVX - built to celebrate Land Rover’s 60th anniversary - may also mark the end of Defender, with 2010 Euro V emissions requirements expected to trigger the demise of the veteran off-roader.
![](/assets/contents/79b2f917259f5ff2420a9bc492c71e9f3c41eb2c.jpg)
Land Rover L316 Defender
Released: 1999
Ended: 2006
Family Tree: DefenderLAND ROVER decided that a new heart was needed for its half-century-old workhorse to see in the new millennium, so in went a 90kW/300Nm version of the 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo-diesel and five-speed manual gearbox combination introduced in the early 1990s. Three wheelbase sizes were offered – with the 2360mm ‘90’ joining the long-established 2794mm ‘110’ wagon and cab-chassis and 3226mm ‘130’ cab-chassis and crew cab-chassis utility models from 2003 to 2006. The Extreme variants brought more equipment with them, while a Tomb Raider edition in 2001 coincided with the release of the Hollywood movie of the same name.
Facebook Twitter Instagram