Gallery: Land Rover Defender gets the axe in 2015
The Land Rover Defender - one of the few classic cars you can still buy new - is to go out of production in 2015. The iconic off-roader, which has been on sale since 1948 in one form or another gets the chop in the face of escalating safety regulations and a changing market place. Land Rover has confirmed that it will be replaced.
The Land Rover Defender is identified with the UK in much the same way as the K6 telephone box, black London taxis, and the Mini - and it's now the last bastion of original 1940s automotive hardware. And it's also loved by HRH The Queen. Okay, so the number of parts shared between the Land Rover of 1948 and the Defender of today are miniscule, but it's still fundamentally the same vehicle. And to show you just how much it hasn't changed, here's a gallery of each major model through the years,
Enjoy the gallery.
Land Rover Defender LXV (2013)
To celebrate the Land Rover's 65th birthday (LXV in Roman numerals), this special edition was wheeled out. Just 65 were buit, and the 2.2-litre turbodiesel was finished in Santorini Black paint with a Corris Grey roof, grille and headlight surrounds. A set of 16-inch Sawtooth alloy wheels and exclusive LXV badging were also standard, along with black leather seats and contrasting orange stitching. At a little under £30,000, it sold out, proving that people were prepared to spend serious money on their Defenders, and that they didn't mind the compromises of driving a car so firmly rooted in 1948 - something Land Rover will no doubt take into account with its replacement in 2015.
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