Automotive
Patrick_y pays tribute to the Land Rover Defender, an automotive icon with an unparalleled 67-year production history at Solihull, England, which is slated to end in December 2015. He explores the Defender's unique hand-built nature, contrasting it with modern SUVs like the Range Rover, and encourages readers to appreciate this vehicle destined to become a future classic.
PuristSPro honors the Land Rover Defender, a vehicle with an unparalleled history. The Defender has enjoyed production in Solihull, England for an amazing 67 years but will unfortunately be stopped in December 2015. We explore the Defender and compare it to its modern brother the Range Rover.
Hand-built SUVs, the Land Rover Defender and the Mercedes-Benz Gelandewagen, are both modern classics that are a part of the dying times.
We see the marketing phrase “hand-built” all the time. And it’s mostly meaningless. Very few things are hand-built anymore. Public companies are run by profits, profits dictate robots and efficient designs that minimize human labor costs.
Land Rover Defender – rumored to be one of The Queen’s
favorite personal vehicles that she personally drives, is almost entirely hand
built. While all the major metal
pieces are pressed by machine, a large amount of the finishing of pieces,
pre-assembly of pieces, riveting and welding are all done by hand. Only seven robots are on the production
line, in contrast the Range Rover production line has 328 robots. The Defender has been built in
Solihull, England for 67 years!
But Solihull production will supposedly end in December 2015.
The Defender is destined to become a future classic. Procure yours today and see where it takes you in the decades to come.
...several of these in my neighbourhood, mainly late model Defenders, but there is a 110 and a Series 2 that I often see. My father had a Series 2 that he drove around Australia with friends in the 60s...could you imagine touring across Australia in a car flat out at 50mph? :-) Nice to observe, but terrible to drive on the road. Especially the SWB models....and the most off-road I've been in one is unsealed farm tracks :-) As for being hand-made...this is more a result of the production methods
Along with just few like Lada Niva, Toyota Land Cruiser. Jeep Willys or Nissan Patrol this is indeed grandfather of all real off-road utility vehicles Long live the King sorry Queen ;) Sincerely D
You saw my post a few weeks back on the old FJ40. I probably have a preference towards an old Defender to be fully honest. I would love to have one.
Old Landcruisers (Toyota) Old Defenders (Land Rover) Old Gelandewagens (Mercedes-Benz) I love them all. Realistically, I'd probably get a modern day Gelandewagen, it's easily serviced here in California, a lot of Mercedes-Benz dealerships equipped to service that car. But I think Gelandewagens develop rattles over time. All the older ones I've driven had interior rattling sounds that were somewhat to extremely annoying. Defenders here in California are quite rare, obnoxiously expensive for what
It will be possible to buy non UK built Defender in other countries. For instance, South Africa has a factory for the African market. But Western European sales is supposed to end in December 2015. Other factories are in Malaysia and Pakistan. I haven't seen the old Nissan Patrols in a while. But yes, those are good machines too. I usually see a convoy of them (with Toyota LandCruisers) in UN Peacekeeping missions depicted on CNN, BBC, or DW-TV news channels. Thanks for reading and commenting Da
You're right. It is more of a result of the production methods being unable to advance due to the design of the car being incapable for robots of today. Not entirely due to the desirability of hand craftsmanship, but just out of necessity. Good point! Will these cars still be available for purchase in Australia? It's being stopped in the EU mainly for pedestrian safety compliance. But you may possibly see Asian or African newly built versions in Australia after December 2015. Isn't there a small
This thread is active on the Automotive forum with 17 replies. Share your knowledge with fellow collectors.
Join the Discussion →
