The roots of the Land Rover Defender can be traced back to 1948 when Land Rover vehicles established themselves as the most capable and rugged off-roaders in the world.
The 2012 Land Rover Defender will get a new Euro 5 compliant 2.2 liter diesel engine. The new engine has lower emissions than the old engine courtesy a diesel particulate filter (DPF). The six-speed gearbox has been retained from the outgoing defender. The other optional pack is called the off-road pack.
Land Rover's utilitarian off-road SUV became known as the Defender Ninety and Defender One Ten in 1985, with the numbers respectively representing the two- and four-door models' wheelbases (rounded to the nearest 10). Of course, this is the history of the Land Rover Defender in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in the world.
Most Recent Land Rover Defender
The two-door Land Rover Defender 90 was sold for 1994, 1995 and 1997. There were two body styles available. The hardtop body style debuted in 1995 featuring an aluminum roof with pop-up sunroof, an internal/external "safari cage" and four center-facing rear seats. For 1997, Land Rover fitted the Discovery's 4.0-liter aluminum V8 that yielded 182 hp and 233 lb-ft of torque into the Defender. (Even to this day, the thoroughly updated Defender sold elsewhere doesn't have them.) The Land Rover Defender 90 does the job it was intended to do well.
Other off-road specialists like the Jeep Wrangler will probably suit your trail needs just as well as the Defender at a lower price, although none boast the Land Rover's British pedigree.
Past Land Rover Defender Models
In 1993, Land Rover sold 500 units of the four-door Defender 110 in the United States. Featuring a stretched version of the later two-door model's frame, it featured a wheelbase that surpassed that time's Range Rover.