It is official – the very last Land Rover Defender has been built. You can see the final vehicle in the image above along with the many skilled people behind this iconic car and brand. In what is an impressive set of statistics for the industry, Land Rover and the Defender has been built continuously in Solihull, UK, for 68 years!
Those who simply cannot get enough of this boxy legend will be very happy to hear about the Heritage Restoration Programme, which will be based on the site of the existing Solihull production line. A team of experts, including some long serving Defender employees, will oversee the restoration of a number of Series Land Rovers sourced from across the globe. The first vehicles will go on sale in July 2016.
Dr Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, said: “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.”
Land Rover fans are invited to upload their most memorable journeys ever undertaken in Series Land Rover or Defender vehicles via an upcoming online ‘Defender Journeys’ platform, announced today. Effectively a digital scrapbook, Land Rover aims to collate as many exciting adventures as possible into this online map, which users can view and share. You can visit the ‘Defender Journeys’ here.
Enthusiasts will now be able to undertake the full Defender production line tour via a new online 360 degree virtual tool, here: http://defendertour.landrover.com.
Three quick facts on the amazing Defender for the pub:
- The original Series I Land Rover cost £450 in 1948. It was powered by a four cylinder 1.6 litre engine with just 50 hp.
- Since 1948, 2,016,933 Series Land Rovers and Defenders have been built on the production line at Solihull.
- It takes 56 man hours to build each Defender.
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