[Closed] The last Defender

Family holiday to Scotland from the South Coast and back in a Series 3. I would happily torch the last one as it comes off the line after that experience.

as I asked my Dad a northern farmer why he was sad about the end of the defender. I asked if he would buy one - hell no who would be such an idiot.

Had a series 2 SWB for towing neddie boxes round, 2.5ltr diesel Perkins engine in it and a steering box that would do 3 turns full lock left, 18 to full lock right...

Its not the last thier moving production abroad , trying for a bigger slice of the world market I believe .

My brother's bought one of the run out 'Heritage' ones - a LWB station wagon in that pale green. He's pleased with it.

He went and saw the production run, it's parallel to the Range Rover one and he said it was obvious why they were stopping production - it's a 50 year old production process.

I have never owned one, but I think Defenders speak for themselves. They just tend to use one word: 'Awesome'.

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He went and saw the production run, it's parallel to the Range Rover one and he said it was obvious why they were stopping production - it's a 50 year old production process.

Agreed - we went as a school trip. There was a chap stood with a large mallet - every front wing coming out the machine was 'adjusted' by him to fit using the mallet...

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Special collectors mug available

The security at the University of East Anglia had a Defender. Didn't stop my bike from getting nicked off campus, so I always questioned its credentials.

Been looking for 110 TD5 XS to use pulling the sheep trailer and mini expeditions (also want to do an overland to africa) and sellers are certainly hiking prices with people asking £15-19k for a 10-12 year old one. May have to wait until I have my new workshop so I can buy one with a rotten chassis and rebuild it how I want it, which is the advantage of Defenders.

Drove in a charity rally from London to Sarajevo in 2001 in my 300TDi Defender, along with about 20 other vehicles.
We took aid, and raised cash for a mine clearance charity.
The whole trip was mental - we drove over the Alps (Gross Glockner road etc) then dropped in on various Army bases on the way.
When we reached Sarajevo we camped in the Ambassadors garden.

The Bosnian war was not long over, and Sarajevo was rated as the 4th most dangerous place on Earth by the UN at the time.

So many cool memories - the strip club under a motorway flyover in downtown Sarajevo where the doormen had Uzis, the tour of the UK REME base where they let us drive all the big trucks, etc.

Best bit was the people - the locals were all so nice - that is my best memory from Landrover ownership - getting to meet people (I also done two trips to Morocco in Landrover Discoveries since then)

Morocco 2006 -

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I'm hoping in a position to buy another 4x4 in 18-24 months.
My head says sensible Nissan Patrol, Toyota something, somehow I know i'll end up with a moneypit Defender which will need £1000's spending on it just to get it roadworthy.

Pearce and Revolution uplifts are my only experience. All total POS's but still drag 10 riders and bikes up the hill all day.

[i]The last Defender[/i]

No, there will be another.
😉

The thing I most remember about them is that, no matter how I get into one to drive it, I bash my knee on the same bit of the dash that juts out below the steering wheel. And how uncomfortable and slow they are compared to a Hilux or an L200 or Navarra. Or Land Cruiser.

That said, I did learn to drive in a 110 on a ploughed field. Happy days.

Its not the last [s]thier[/s] they're moving production abroad , trying for a bigger slice of the world market I believe .

The last that can be sold in most markets due to legislation etc...

No, there will be another.

There can be only one. 😉

I drove a LR wolf HS from north-ish Bosnia to Dubrovnik (the interesting bit was a pause in Mostar)
I love those things. Compared with the previous models, they drove themselves (into walls usually...)

Horrible, leaky, smelly, rattly, slow,expensive to run, cramped and completely impractical for most day to day driving.
I really miss my ex RAF 90 tin top with a TD transplant and I'd have one again in a heartbeat if I had the space for a 'fun' vehicle. I even think I'd have it over the S111 Airportable or RRC I had before and after.

Here it is, the last one:

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Here it is, the last one:

I wondered if I was the only one to get fasthaggis's joke.....

My family have had;

1948 S1
1967 SWB petrol
1980's SWB petrol
1970's straight 6 petrol 109
early 80's rebuild with 3.2l perkins
early 90's 90.

My dad spent most weekends that I have known him under one or rebuilding them. Sadly no landrover in the family anymore, but my dad now can spend some time with the grandkids!!

hateful. Last time I had to drive one was for a summer job delivering portaloos. It was a rush every morning between us to make sure you didn't end up with the Landy, otherwise it would take 4-5 times as long to do the collections and deliveries, and it was ****ing uncomfortable, whoever designed it must have had the worlds shortest legs

Here it is, the last one:

Awful things, I would never have one.*

But they don't half put a smile on my face.

We used to hire them at the outdoor centre for some of the big expeditions. Being Lix Toll vehicles, it was *expected* they would be used properly. Knowing the local farmers and being a phone call away from permission mean that my family had a few pleasant evenings.... 8)

[url= https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8032/8036437051_023f3f2eb9_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8032/8036437051_023f3f2eb9_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/df9QKv ]Glen Dubh[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/matt_outandabout/ ]Matt Robinson[/url], on Flickr

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[url= https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5182/5680601819_7b6eb3f33c_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5182/5680601819_7b6eb3f33c_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/9DYz1F ]Landrover 110[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/matt_outandabout/ ]Matt Robinson[/url], on Flickr

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Its not the last thier moving production abroad , trying for a bigger slice of the world market I believe

Grammar aside, I thought this really was the end of the roadmap? The idea was that the 'new' defender would be so much easier to build that even for emerging markets it would be better building worldwide production lines rather than shipping the Solihull one to China.

Well I like the tribute colour and design of the last one. Had to be something with heritage written all over it, this looks cool IMO.

As for the oil and breakdown jokes, there has to be some humour in owning one.

Most of us, at some point in our lives, on here have either owned or been tempted or lusted or probably collected friends/relatives out from a broken down one.

For that alone they get my sad farewell.

Long Live the Defender.

8)

I think for a lot of people they like the 'look' ,the reality is they are very outdated mode of transport with plenty of foibles.
My brothers got a lwb one with Snorkel,winch sumpguards etc and it looks the business but for pootling about in its just not that great but comes into its own when its loaded up with his dogs and a caravan on the back.
Most of the time he drives his focus.

Hope Technology have a picture of their Defender on their Facebook page but I can't seem to direct link the picture.

Looks quite smart.
That said I've driven RAF Defenders a few times and they were always hideous to drive, possibly because they'd been ragged senseless up and down runways.

Long Live the Defender.

All hail the king! 😉

Time to raise a glass in honour.
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Thanks for years of fun.

I've had two*. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...

* well, a One Ten and a SIII.

I sometimes drove my mate's S3 - horrible thing to drive, especially when I got to do the trip from Cambridge to the Black Mountains fully loaded. But also great fun and I can totally see the appeal. Which I guess echoes what many others have been saying. There will be plenty of them on the roads for many years to come though.

I see that the last Defender rolled off the production line with its lights flashing and horn sounding. I reckon the fault is probably in the fuse box...

The last that can be sold in most markets due to legislation etc...

Is that why it's being binned? I'd never really thought about it before, until they mentioned safety regulations on the radio yesterday, in regards to crumple zones and the like. And in that respect I suppose it is worlds apart from any other modern car.

I thought they were updating it into something more modern though. And that this was only going to be the last 'traditional' Defender in all of its post-war glory.

I think it's mainly the US market and air bags. I watched some prog a couple of weekes ago where a Ferrari (or some other exotica) was being renovated. They stated that the difference between an official US import and a European import was that the US model had an extra brace in the engine bay to protect in the case of a 5mph crash!! On a 200mph car and in a country where handguns are bought over the counter (this make be a different argument).

Same reason MG had to put plastic bumpers and raise the body work (by using metal washers 😆 ) on the MGB

I think it's mainly the US market and air bags. I watched some prog a couple of weekes ago where a Ferrari (or some other exotica) was being renovated. They stated that the difference between an official US import and a European import was that the US model had an extra brace in the engine bay to protect in the case of a 5mph crash!! On a 200mph car and in a country where handguns are bought over the counter (this make be a different argument).

The US I believe have some very strict laws on imports. Not sure if it's so much to protect their citizens, but maybe to protect their motor industry?

So what will the MOD be supplied with from now on, or has the contract with LR ended? Would be odd to see the squaddie mobile being a Hilux/Ranger etc (and what would the REME do without Landys to fix )

Foxhound
£1m each give or take - I followed 6 being delivered up in Elgin last week.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocelot_(vehicle)

Japanese pick ups may tow broken down Land Rovers, but Land Rovers tow the Japanese pick ups out the crap. That's my experience of working with them in the environments they are designed for.
Could be hanging on to the current 130 at work for quite a while.

My fondest Defender memory was from my time living in mid Wales. My Ford Focus got stuck in the snow, so I abandoned it and walked down to the village. Had breakfast at the pub and then started walking the 3 miles back home. Farmer stopped to offer me a lift home, which resulted in me sitting under the Ifor Williams canopy in the back of his 90 pickup with Meg the sheepdog. As he drove off back to the village, I realised my house keys were in my car, 2 miles away.

So what will the MOD be supplied with from now on, or has the contract with LR ended? Would be odd to see the squaddie mobile being a Hilux/Ranger etc (and what would the REME do without Landys to fix )

The last UK LR military contract was 1996 IIRC.

Sad day at Solihull. 😥

^
So the MOD has just been repairing an old fleet for the last 20yrs, blimey 😯
Guess it makes sense to keep on going with the old buses until the spares run out 😀

My favourite Defender memory....(As we're doing them!)

A summer day, sitting outside the Grubber at school (Think tuck shop, but with bacon sarnies!). There was a mini roundabout by it, and a beaten up old Landie was stopped, waiting at the roundabout when a 911 screeched in to the back of it. The 911 hit the towbar on the back, leaving a near perfect triangular dent in the Porker's bonnet.

Driver of the Landie got out, calmly walked around, and delicately brushed the paint flecks off his towbar. Smooth.

When they had the spare wheel on the bonnet my mum needed to sit on cushions so she could see out.

So many memories and good times (yes that as well 😉 ) in Land Rovers, made some good friends too. One memory that springs to mind.....

Driving an unassuming series looking vehicle with a nice aged patina (Alf), I pulled up at some traffic lights behind a bunch of yoofs in a couple of warm hatches with bean can exhausts reving their little engines. A few blips of the throttle had the V8 signing a tune. The look on their faces as they turned around 😀

And another was taking a break from driving along Parkamoor one quiet day with Mrs90 8)

I got my 2nd road bike (first fullsize) as a result of the of the short load space of the 90, my mate had the bike in the back sticking out over the tail gait, his brother reverse it into a tree forgeting about the bike and bent the frame 🙂 I managed to straighten it with a seat post.

Surf trip to Woolacombe in my '84 110. Pulled up in the early hours. Couple of hours sleep on the bench seat in the back, a few swigs of Talisker and a Dawn surf. Then Fitted 13 longboards inside whilst we went to the pub.

Used to use it as a mobile log store as well.

Got rid as it was horrendously underpowered for towing and was fed up of fixing things.

Driving it used to put a big grin on my face though.

I fix it and drive it, and my Mrs does the cooking....

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Chicken breast wrapped in Parma Ham is 25 miles at 60mph, prawns are from our house to Hebden Bridge, sausages are about 15 miles, bacon butties, potato dauphinoise, beef bourguignon, burgers....

Always get some funny looks pulling into a m-way services and pulling the bonnet 'another broken down Landy' until my Mrs starts pulling tinfoil out and unwrapping piping hot food!

Rusty - superb...

Has there been some sort of "be out in your Defender" day today? I've seen lots everywhere - either that or yesterday's end to production has made me notice them all the more.

Never owned one. Not even sure I've driven one, but I recognise them for they icon they are.

Has there been some sort of "be out in your Defender" day today? I've seen lots everywhere - either that or yesterday's end to production has made me notice them all the more.

went out in mine unto chatsworth house, saw about 6 defenders and one series 3, waved at them all

Rusty - Love the cooking on the engine! Did salmon once, worked well. We have had an S1, S2, S2alwb and a 110. Loved them all, brought a smile nearly every time we went out in them. All of our were surprisingly reliable. Reminisce over the hum of the tyres and rolling noise of hubs, gear box and diffs etc.. But mostly pointless unless you need one.

Ha! good effort with the cooking there. Nothing so ambitious, but many a winter's trial I used to wrap a pastie or two in foil and wedge then against the manifold for a nice warm* lunch... 8)

Edit; *and occasionally oily...