On January 29^th, 2016, at around 10am and in front of a host of specially invited guests and dignitaries, the final Old School Defender drove off the assembly line at Solihull. Whilst its original lineage dated back to 1948 in the form of the Series Land Rover, the Defender as we know it dated back to 1983 with the introduction of the OneTen. This is an astonishing 33 years of production in its current form and 68 years of production of the Land Rover. They’re not many vehicles around that can match that sort of heritage.

During its lifetime, over 2 million Land Rovers were made at its Solihull factory, all by a very manual process. I was fortunate to visit the production line on a couple of occasions, and it was busy with skilled technicians all putting the Defender together with an obvious pride in what they were doing. I mean, how many people can say they built an Icon. It was pretty much an old school assembly process, with only manual handling equipment assisting. The glass in the windscreen was fitted by hand, and the seals were set by hand using a bit of string and two wooden toggles. I kid you not.

Above – The Final Defender, lovingly called Huey Twoey, can be seen at Land Rover Classic in Coventry. Below – Before it was too late, I got to achieve a life long wish to drive a Defender around the Solihull Jungle Track.

Before it was too late, I had to scratch an itch. Resolve a childhood dream if you will. That was to drive a new old school Defender around the infamous Jungle track at Solihull. I made the booking with Land Rover Experience Solihull, and in 2014 I got to live my dream. I spent the afternoon on the Jungle Track putting the 110 through its paces and what a fantastic afternoon that was. I also got to experience the anti-stall feature as we climbed a steep hill and the instructor told me to take my foot of the throttle!

The last official day you could order a Defender was June 26^th 2015, and many people did. Twisted ordered 240 of them (Only 239 were delivered though but that’s a different story) Production was originally planned to cease in late 2015, but due to the large number of orders, it prolonged to early 2026.

The final Defender was built to the current production specification meaning a 2.2 litre Turbo Diesel Puma engine, 6 speed gearbox and permanent four-wheel drive. Body wise it was a Sage green soft top, a loving nod to the first Land Rover HUE166.  It was indeed a sad day for all Land Rover fans. Owning an old school Land Rover isn’t the same as owning any other vehicle. It gets under your skin, becomes part of the family.

Despite production ending, demand has remained strong meaning the residual value remains high. It also means that there are a whole host of companies around the world that will re-life / restomod your Defender, including Land Rover themselves as we covered in a previous article. [https://lrlife.co.uk/land-rover-classic/]

People still want them and still want to drive them. I can recall visiting my local dealership and seeing a six-year-old Defender 110, sat alongside a brand-new Defender 110, both with the same selling price. I don’t know what it went for, but it wasn’t on display for long before it was sold.

So, ten years on, and the Defender has been re-invented. We did have to wait several years for it, with the new Defender being launched around 4 years later. We covered whether it is a true Defender in a previous article, and opinion on that will remain divided for quiet some time [https://lrlife.co.uk/but-is-it-a-defender/]. But there is one thing I do know. The following of the new Defender will never come close to eclipsing that of the old, and for that reason the legend has died.

Above – The Alpha and the Omega pictured together at Gaydon.