This is the last ever Land Rover Defender, which rolled off the Solihull production line on 29 January 2016.
Land Rover Defender set for comeback with investment from chemicals tycoon
Our 32 exclusive images reveal the details of that final model, which was the 2,016,933rd to be produced. It's owned by Jaguar Land Rover itself and will forever mark the end of a model that was on sale for a staggering 68 years.
Land Rover commissioned this final Defender to be built in as similar spec as possible to the first ever Series car. Despite the near seven-decade age difference, the resemblance between the two cars shows just how little has changed since the Land Rover Series’ inception in 1948.
The final Defender is a 90, the smallest production Defender with a 93in wheelbase, and is finished in Grasmere Green, the same as the first car. Again, like the first car, it has been built in UK right-hand-drive form and wears a soft-top.
In keeping with original specifications, it gets two parts that have been fitted to all open-top Series Land Rovers since 1948: hood cleats and an underbody support strut.
At its heart is a 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel engine, which was sourced from the Ford Transit and has been standard fitment in the Defender since 2012.
The car’s number plate, H166 HUE, and the fake HUE 166 number plate decals are in tribute to the original Land Rover, which was nicknamed Huey.
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I like Land Rovers, they're
Tata
Tata
Also it's a shame about the 2 year gap before the replacement. They'll lose a big chunk of their customers in those 2 years although it is a vehicle with a hard core of loyal fans.
The objective of making it as similar as possible to the original has worked very well. But it's a shame the interior has got so plasticy somewhere down the line. They should have reverted back to the original metal way back.
Who owns the rights to the vehicle now? I might be interested!
289 tantrum alert
For an article about an " unremarkable vehicle" 289 seems to be very wound up about it.
@ campervan
No tantrums, just tired of endless articles about the Land Rover. The JLR bias is getting out of hand at Haymarket towers.
Please don't misquote me by the way....I didn't say that the Land Rover was an unremarkable vehicle...it is quite remarkable in many ways....not least lately that people have still been buying the things (mainly not for the original purpose) thirty years after its time was truly up.
What I said was that this particular vehicle ('The last') was unremarkable for anything except being 'the last' off the line. Therefore why it needed 32 pictures was quite beyond me.
a great article
I remember a similar amount of coverage regarding the demise of the T2 VW campervan last year. A product not even for sale in the UK let alone designed and manufactured over here. I liked that coverage too.
So my apologies to 289, but some of us are interested in motoring heritage and interesting anomalies that for whatever reason remain in production beyond their sell by date!
@ kowalski99
I would suggest that photos of a land Rover exhaust pipe and mudflap probably belong in Land Rover owner magazine or something similar where the enthusiasts can disappear off to a quiet corner with a copy for a few minutes!!!
I would add that a label attached to the trim with HUE 101 is frankly a but pathetic and not really deserving of the the original LR1 which undoubtedly was a big break through for Rover especially in the dire times straight after the war.....although it was hardly ground breaking as Ford & Willys had created the blueprint which Wilkes copied.
With regard to other comments about continuing production elsewhere, I am sure this will happen.
Africa fell out of love with Land Rovers years ago, but I could see this being built in the AP region where health & safety still isn't an issue.