Land Rover Defender: 33 years of the coil-sprung Land Rover

The Land Rover Defender is a series of British off-road cars and pickups with four-wheel drive, developed in the 1980s from the Land Rover Series that had appeared at the Amsterdam Motor Show in April 1948. Production of the original line ended on 29 January 2016.

Land Rover Defender at a glance

based on one source (English Wikipedia)

History of the Land Rover Defender

The coil-sprung Land Rover arrived in 1983 as the Land Rover One Ten, named for its 110-inch wheelbase. The Land Rover Ninety followed in 1984 with a 92.9-inch wheelbase, and the 127-inch One Two Seven came in 1985. The numbers were spelled out in advertising and handbooks, but the badges above the radiator grille read 90 or 110 in figures. The Ninety and One Ten replaced the Series Land Rovers, and at launch the only other Land Rover in production was the Range Rover.

Though not a new generation design, the vehicle brought significant changes over the Series. It adopted coil springs front and rear, which gave both a better ride and improved axle articulation, and a centre differential in the transfer case provided permanent four-wheel drive. Both ideas came from the original Range Rover, and the interior was modernised too. The engines were carried over from the Series III at first, with more powerful units introduced progressively. Visually the differences were modest: a full-length bonnet, a revised grille and wheel arch extensions to cover the wider-track axles.

In 1989 Land Rover added the Discovery, and to avoid confusion the 1991 model year Ninety and One Ten were renamed Defender 90 and Defender 110, with a Defender badge at the front and the wheelbase shown on the rear. The 127-inch model became the Defender 130 although its wheelbase did not change. North American Specification Defenders of 1993–1997 carried their own badges and a plaque with the limited production number.

Production finally ended on 29 January 2016 after 67 continuous years of Series and Defender building and just over two million vehicles. The two millionth was assembled with a special team in May 2015 and auctioned for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The last Defender, registered H166 HUE after the first pre-production Land Rover HUE 166, was the 2,016,933rd. A Defender Works V8 with 400 bhp was announced in January 2018, and an all-new Defender with an aluminium monocoque and no shared components made its debut in September 2019.

Design and features

• Coil springs all round: better ride and axle articulation than the leaf-sprung Series.
• Permanent four-wheel drive: a centre differential in the transfer case, as on the Range Rover.
• Ladder chassis and alloy body: the rugged construction that built the model’s reputation.
• Long service: the 90/110 and Defender had the sixteenth longest single-generation production run of any car by 2020.

Land Rover Defender versions

• One Ten (1983): the original 110-inch coil-sprung model.
• Ninety (1984): short-wheelbase version with a 92.9-inch wheelbase.
• One Two Seven (1985): long 127-inch wheelbase, later the Defender 130.
• Defender 90, 110 and 130: the 1990 renaming of the range.
• NAS Defender 90 and 110: North American Specification models sold from 1993 to 1997.
• Defender Works V8 (2018): a 400 bhp special edition.

The Defender grew out of the Land Rover Series, and its military derivative is described under the 101 Forward Control. More cars are in the Land Rover collection.

Sources

• Land Rover Defender, English Wikipedia: history, naming, production