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Last Defender rolls off the line

Published 29 January 2016

After 68 years of production, the last Land Rover Defender - a 90 Heritage Soft Top - rolled off the production line at the Solihull factory today.

More than 700 current and former employees were there to mark the occasion, with historic models such as the first pre-production ‘Huey’ Series 1 on show.

As Defender production ended, Land Rover announced a new Heritage Restoration programme, which will be based at Solihull.

A team of experts, including long-serving Defender employees, will oversee the restoration of a number of Series Land Rovers from around the world. The first restored vehicles will go on sale in July.

Defender (2)

Dr Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, said, ‘Today we celebrate what generations of men and women have done since the outline for the Land Rover was originally drawn in the sand.

‘The Series Land Rover, now Defender, is the origin of our legendary capability, a vehicle that makes the world a better place, often in some of the most extreme circumstances.

‘There will always be a special place in our hearts for Defender, among all our employees, but this is not the end. We have a glorious past to champion, and a wonderful future to look forward to.’

More than 25 unique vehicles from Land Rover’s history came together in a procession around the Solihull plant.

Defender (3)

Now, Land Rover fans are being asked to upload their most memorable journeys ever undertaken in Series Land Rover or Defender vehicles via the Defender Journeys webpage.

It’s effectively a digital scrapbook and Land Rover aims to collate as many exciting adventures as possible into this online map, which users can view and share.

Comments

anglebox on 29 January 2016

It's sad to see the Defender go, but (as great as it is) you could argue that it is very outdated now. And besides, it's not the end - the model line will be replaced over the next few years.

Edited by Kalpesh Mistry on 29/01/2016 at 18:26

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Teddington on 1 February 2016

Why get rid of the Defender before its replacement is in production?

Dated, or not, - it still sells.

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Lord Brasic on 5 February 2016

R.I.P Defender.

So what does the Great British Farmer or even the utility companies and emergency services buy now. Yes it's out-dated but they last for years do the job and can be mended easily. I know it's not British anymore but most people see it as part of our heritage. I expect the new one will be full of electronic aids that will be unreliable when used as a lot of Defenders are, axle deep in mud and water.

To cap it all, its not even been left as a run out model while its replacement is being launched.

sjw77

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