This nostalgia-laden conversion of the old-school Defender is not cheap at $270,000, but only 25 people around the world will get one. None of them will be in the U.S.
Land Rover’s Classic Division has released a limited run of 25 of the retro Defender Works V8 Trophy shown here, based on the now defunct old-school Defender.
Among those produced will be both two-door (90) and four-door (110) models, all in the Eastnor Yellow color reminiscent of Camel Trophy entries of the 1980s and 1990s.
Not surprisingly, this old-school SUV won’t be sold in the U.S.; Defender fans here will have to shop the 2021 Land Rover Defender instead.
Breaking up can be hard to do. Land Rover seems to be finding it particularly tough to split up with its most iconic model, launching another new edition of the Defender that officially retired five years ago. This is the limited-run Defender Works V8 Trophy.
Don’t think that this is an alternative to the new and much more advanced Defender that went on sale last year. The Works V8 Trophy is a product of Land Rover’s Classic Division, and the limited run of 25 will all be based on existing chassis. In other words, they’re aftermarket conversions. Both short-wheelbase two-door 90 and long-wheelbase four-door 110 station wagons will be produced, with power coming from a naturally aspirated version of JLR’s 5.0-liter V-8 making 399 horsepower and 379 pound-feet of torque. An eight-speed automatic gearbox will also be standard, something no original Defender left the factory with.
The new power output is similarly non-prototypical. Most of the original Defenders were sold in Europe with a variety of four- and five- cylinder turbo-diesel engines, but the U.S. did get a version fitted with the long-lived 3.5-liter pushrod V-8 that Rover acquired from Buick in the Sixties. So equipped, the 1997 U.S. spec Defender had 182 horsepower and drove through a four-speed automatic gearbox. Land Rover has previously offered this 5.0-liter conversion with the Defender Works V8, which we drove in the U.K. back in 2018, and which the company claims is capable of dispatching the zero-to-60-mph benchmark in just 5.6 seconds in short-wheelbase form.
The obvious difference between the earlier Works V8 and the Works V8 Trophy is the custard yellow paint scheme of the new car referencing the Camel Trophy that ran between 1980 and 2000, and which Land Rover supplied vehicles for. The cigarette sponsorship has obviously gone—and the color is now referred to as Eastnor Yellow, after Land Rover’s English test center—but the connection to the adventurous event is further emphasized by a substantial external roll cage and additional underbody protection, a raised air intake, and an electric winch. Other mechanical changes from the base Defender include bigger brakes and new telescopic dampers.
Sadly for U.S. buyers, the Works V8 Trophy won’t be sold here, due to the base Defender’s lack of federal approval. For U.S. buyers looking for a reworked classic Defender, there are several options using cars old enough to be legally brought into the country. British tuner Twisted produces both a version powered by a 6.2-liter GM V-8 and a fully electrified version.
But, in those parts of the world that will be able to buy it—Europe, Africa, parts of the Middle East, and Africa—it will cost a substantial $270,000 at current exchange rates. That is a significant increase over the approximate price of $210,000 that Land Rover Classic charged for the last Works V8, although buyers will have the chance to drive the vehicles at a three-day event at Eastnor, which the company says will help them to “create their own stories, battle scars, and patina.” That’s some expensive patina.
Land Rover expert Overfinch has announced its latest venture. Overfinch Heritage will take 25-year-old Defenders and modify them for the road.
The company is limiting itself to just 12 Heritage Defenders for 2021. It says that’s not just to keep the rarity up, but that it also reflects the amount of work going into each new vehicle.
Each restomod Defender comes with a new crate engine and transmission, as well as a number of modifications to enhance the driving experience. Plus, you’ll get Overfinch’s distinctive styling.
“Overfinch Heritage will address a major opportunity to satisfy the demand for restomod Land Rover vehicles in North America,” said Alex Sloane, VP Overfinch North America. “Remastering allows us to create enhancements and proprietary Overfinch upgrades that simply wouldn’t have featured in the classic production car.”
The process of modifying these Land Rovers has already begun with meticulously selected Defenders. Overfinch says that it will start to deliver them in April, but that if you have a Defender of your own that meets their requirements, they can modify that, too.
“We intend for our customers to create something truly personal, while guiding them to retain the classically British character of the original vehicle,” said Sloane. “Our pedigree, as the originator of after-market Range Rover tuning, can be traced back to 1975. We understand the importance of maintaining the integrity of these British icons.”
The history of the Defender is a bit twisty, but what we commonly call the Defender has been around since the early ’80s. Known simply as the Land Rover 90 or 110 at the start of its life, the arrival of the Discovery meant that it needed a model name.
The first “Defender” was produced in 1990 and it came with a variety of engines ranging from BMW I6s to Rover V8s to inline 4 turbodiesels. What engine Overfinch intends to put at the heart of its Heritage Defender has not been made explicit, though we imagine that Overfinch will work with customers to make their dreams come true.
The rugged SUV’s capabilities are still intact, but new architecture gives it better road manners.
Land Rover resurrected its legendary Defender nameplate with an entirely refashioned 2020 model capturing the original’s adventurous essence, but incorporating the latest in contemporary engineering and technology.
There are two versions of the 2020 Defender: the four-door 110 model and two-door short wheelbase 90 model. I drove the Defender 110 and the information you read here is concentrated on that model.
The new Defender’s shape is as boxy as you can get. Nearly nonexistent front and rear overhangs add to the visual effect but also contribute to the SUV’s exceptional off-road capability. The spare wheel is mounted outside the vehicle, on the traditionally Defender-style side-hinged rear door. It saves space elsewhere, makes the short rear overhang possible, and gives Defender’s overall character a big boost.
Unibody construction replaces the old Defender’s body-on-frame design, providing a threefold increase in torsional rigidity and the foundation for the fully independent suspension that replaces the old solid axle. These changes are the recipe for the new Defender’s tranquil ride on the highway, something not found on the oldies.
There are six trim levels of the Defender 110: Standard, S, SE, HSE, First Edition and X. Pricing starts at $51,250 including the $1,350 destination charge for the Standard trim and maxes out at $82,250 for the top-tier X model.
Standard and S models have a 2.0-liter turbocharged four cylinder engine with 296 horsepower, 295 pound-feet of torque, and a 0-60 mph acceleration time of 7.7 seconds. The fuel economy rating is 17 mpg city, 20 mpg highway and 18 mpg combined.
All other Defender 110 models come with a 3.0-liter turbocharged and supercharged six-cylinder mild hybrid (MHEV) powertrain producing 395 horsepower, 406 pound-feet of torque, and a 0-60 mph time of 5.8 seconds. The fuel economy rating is 17 mpg city, 22 mpg highway, and 19 mpg combined.
Both engines are paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission and a two-speed transfer case for a set of low-range ratios essential for towing or off-road driving when extra control is required. By the way, Defender’s maximum towing capacity is 8,201 pounds.
My Defender test vehicle was the SE model ($63,600), the entry level for the six-cylinder engine. Other features it adds include 20-inch wheels, automatic high-beam headlights, power adjustable front seats, digital gauge display and a 400-watt Meridian audio system with 10 speakers. A slew of optional equipment items provided adaptive cruise control, cold climate protection, enhanced off-road capability, a panoramic roof and more.
Defender’s interior is intriguing, a cross between upscale and spartan, rough and futuristic. An exposed magnesium cross bar beam spans the length of the dash, looking cool but also contributing to the vehicle body’s overall strength. Other exposed hardware is seen in the door panels.
The six-cylinder engine is an impressive performer, powering the 5,035-pound Defender effortlessly. The brakes tend to get excited a little too easily, kicking in a bit hard when normal pressure is first applied to the pedal. I adjusted, used less-than-normal pedal pressure, and all was well.
Land Rover offers many ways for buyers to customize their new Defender, including four optional Accessory Packs: Explorer, Adventure, Country, and Urban. The packs have features specifically designed for various activities, from extreme travel to stylin’ in the city.
If you need the perfect demonstration of the new Defender’s capability, here it is.
The new Land Rover Defender is one of the most capable off-roaders you can buy right now, offering impressive approach and departure angles of 38 and 40 degrees respectively and generous ground clearance. As we’ve seen in behind the scenes footage from the upcoming James Bond movie ‘No Time to Die,’ Land Rover’s new off-roader can take some serious punishment. With a maximum towing capacity of 8,201 pounds, the new Defender is also an ideal vehicle for towing large vehicles out of trouble, as this video perfectly demonstrates.
In Strafford, England, a transporter fully loaded with new Discoverys, Discovery Sports, Range Rover Sports, Range Rover Evoques, and Range Rover Velars worth a total of around £500,000 ($682,000) was making a delivery to the Stafford Land Rover dealership on icy roads.
Just a few feet away from the dealership, the transporter got stuck in the treacherous conditions. Witnessing the delivery driver’s ordeal, the dealer’s sales manager, Matt Knowles, hopped into his personal Defender and set off to rescue the stranded transporter.
Combined with the seven loaded SUVs, the transporter weighed 44 tons, but this proved to be no problem for the rugged Defender. After hooking the transporter to the SUV with a tow rope, the Defender initially struggles to move the massive transporter. But after around a minute of persistence, the off-roader successfully tows the transporter out of trouble and pulls it safely to its destination.
Incredibly, this meant the Defender was able to tow 19 times its own weight.
If you need proof the new Defender is Land Rover’s strongest and most capable off-roader yet, here it is. The Defender used in the video was a 110 model, which is powered by either a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder generating 296 hp and 295 lb-ft or a 3.0-liter six-cylinder turbo with mild-hybrid technology producing 395 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque. A more affordable Defender 90 will also go on sale this spring.
With videos like this demonstrating the Defender’s tremendous capability, it’s no surprise the new off-roader has already outsold the old model in America.
Classic Land Rover Defenders are quite rare and have gained a cult following in the US.
The 2020 Land Rover Defender is the first new Defender to be sold here from the factory since 1997.
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Nearly a quarter of a century has passed since a new Land Rover Defender arrived on US shores.
But for the first time since 1997, we finally get a fully federalized, fully road-legal Defender straight from Land Rover itself. You no longer have to wait for the 25-year import rule to expire or hit up a customization shop to get your hands on a Defender, and that in itself is a relief.
The 2020 Defender still retains the original’s boxy shape, but much of what made a Defender a Defender has been smoothed and ironed out to befit a brand that no longer uses military surplus to build cars. You’ll notice a sleeker face and larger dimensions. Electronic seats. A heated steering wheel. Fancy air suspension mon Dieu.
From the driver’s seat, the only way you’d be able to tell you were driving a Defender is by reading the name stamped across the steering wheel. But I’ll let you in on a little secret: The original Defender is bad! I’ve driven it.
The new one? It’s good.
The 2020 Defender 110: Out with the old
The Defender legacy began in 1983 with the Defender 90 and Defender 110, their numbers a reference to the size of their wheelbases – or the length of the space between the centers of a vehicle’s front and rear wheels.
1995 Land Rover Defender 90.Land Rover
Defenders didn’t come to the US until 1993 and left just as abruptly in 1997 because they couldn’t meet our safety standards. (Specifically, they lacked airbags and side-impact door protection.) As a result, the trucks were little-known and rare, becoming a kind of a hidden gem for fans and enthusiasts.
Regardless of US regulations, though, Defender production kept right up until 2016. Following that came the current Defender for the 2020 model year, finally available to buyers in the US.
Details and safety ratings: A straight-six smooth as silk
The 2020 Defender starts at $46,100 and comes with two engine options. My loaner, a Defender 110 SE, started at $62,250 and landed at $72,780 with options and fees.
The first engine option is a turbocharged, 2.0-liter four-cylinder, good for a claimed 296 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. The second, which is what my loaner came with, is a mild-hybrid, turbocharged and supercharged 3.0-liter straight-six, good for a claimed 395 horsepower and 406 pound- feet of torque.
Both engines are hooked up to a slick eight-speed ZF automatic transmission. There’s also permanent four-wheel drive and locking differentials, making the Defender as legit as any serious off-roader
And while the new 110 won’t offer rear bench seats like the old one famously did, you can option it with a three-person bench seat in the front, which is quite rad. Excitingly, the two-door 2020 Defender 90 will also be available here for the 2021 model year.
What stands out: Driving on stilts
Surpassing the original Defender – a rough, utilitarian thing – is a low bar, but it’s a bar nonetheless. To the surprise of no one, the new Defender passes it with flying colors, although it’s a bit like saying Usain Bolt runs faster than I do.
Immediately, you’ll notice a crispness to the way the 110 drives, one that seems at odds with its 5,000-pound curb weight. The throttle response is immediate, agile, and light. There’s good low-end power, lending to the truck’s smooth power delivery. This is certainly due to the help of that mild hybrid system.
As an added bonus, acceleration is accompanied by a throaty straight-six exhaust rasp, a delightful reminder of the old BMW straight-six engines. Steering feel is also vastly improved over the original truck’s. It feels responsive and modern.
Because of the Defender’s tall stance, you, in turn, sit tall as well. I felt like I was a half- to a whole head taller than everyone else on the road. People driving Honda Pilots only came up to my chest. I was practically sitting on the roofs of Toyota Camrys.
It was a great vantage point from which to observe the road, because hardly anything blocked my view – though, of course, I did become a big obstacle for everyone else to see around. You win some and you lose some, folks.
But driving the Defender over low traction surfaces – in this case ice and snow – is where it really shines. There, you get a sense of absolute tankiness, a sense of powerful unstoppability. It was ice and snow I’d eye nervously if I was in my C-Class sedan, but the Defender marched right over it like it was a minor puddle after a spring shower.
For me personally, these feelings were validated when I happened upon my friend who’d gotten his Porsche Boxster stuck in a snowdrift because it didn’t have enough ground clearance. (He dug it out eventually, don’t worry.)
What falls short: Busy screen
I didn’t love the feel of the plastics in the Defender. They just didn’t respond to my touch with the solidity that I’d expect from a truck that starts at more than $60,000 in the 110 SE trim I was testing, although I will say that the door handles and parts of the dash were wrapped in a cool wetsuit-like polyurethane material that seems like it would be very easy to clean if it got dirty.
My first impression of the infotainment system was one of being overwhelmed. There were so many menu items, all presented on one menu. The navigation, phone connection, and music were conveniently located off to the side, but the system also presented seat and climate options alongside its valet mode, eco data, wade sensing, and vehicle dimensions. These, I felt, could have been tucked into some other menu folder to reduce clutter.
I also got the distinct sense that I was not the correctly shaped person Land Rover had in mind when designing the new Defender. If you’ve ever sat in an original Defender, you’d know that the cabin is actually quite cramped and narrow. For me, it was nearly perfectly scaled.
With this new Defender, I felt like Goldilocks sitting in Papa Bear’s chair: the seat was too long and kept hitting me in the back of my calves so that my legs were never comfortable in the footwell. (And before you ask, no, there is no adjustment for this part of the seat. I checked.)
Even the visibility worked against me. Rear visibility is already quite bad, but even with the seat raised up as high as it would go, I still found the wing mirrors positioned directly in my line of sight, blocking pedestrians crossing intersections.
At least there are a myriad of cameras all over the truck. They make the otherwise impossible task of parking possible.
How the new Defender compares to its competitors: Mid-tier pricing
The Defender shone during high speed cruising. It held to highway speeds just fine. The ride quality at 120 kph was no different than if we were going 40 kph. And because the Defender’s cameras provided such a comprehensive 360-degree view of its surroundings, I wasn’t terrified of navigating it through tight parking lots.
I could easily see myself using it as an everyday SUV. The low-traction stability was just an added bonus.
Through that lens, the $62,000 price tag makes sense. Though the inside of the Defender’s trunk was lined in a rubbery plastic – easy to clean if you put something muddy back there, like a dog – this is still a truck for a luxury buyer. One who might want to get it dirty only sometimes. I also suspect that for those who won’t ever take it overlanding, the mere knowledge that it won’t get stuck off-road is enough.
People liked the original Defender because it was ratty and bad. No creature comforts to speak of. There was an honesty to that. This new Defender is upscale, comfortable, and doesn’t punish you for committing the crime of being tall.
Not that Land Rover didn’t try and capture some of the old truck’s ruggedness, of course. There are fake diamond-plate inserts on the hood and exposed bolts all over the interior that may or may not be functional. The trunk is still accessible via a side-hinged swinging door. With “Defender” stamped all over the place, it sort of felt like the new truck was playing dress-up as the old truck.
But a name is just a name. There’s no rule saying that the thing the name represents cannot change and take on a new definition. Well, maybe there’s a rule if you’re a purist. Nevertheless, it seems like Land Rover took a stab at broader appeal here.
Land Rover makes luxury SUVs now. It can’t get away with selling people rickety bits of farming equipment anymore. But in a portfolio of only luxury SUVs, how is it supposed to differentiate yet another luxury SUVs to the public?
Easy. Lean on the storied Defender name, which carries a cult following mired in nostalgia. The most powerful kind of cult following.
I personally couldn’t care less what Land Rover calls the new truck. You shouldn’t either. It’s objectively nice. But for luxury buyers stuck on the idea and heritage of a Defender – and who also can’t square with a lack of amenities – the new Defender is perfect.
