THE DEFENDER 110

A production records go this is a big one. Its quarter of a century since the 110 inch coil sprung Land Rover appeared. And it’s still with us. Yes there have been upgrades better engines, better brakes redesigned interior, and so on but today’s 110 is very much a younger brother of those first coil sprung utilities from 1983.

It’s long time ago, but the Defender has become such a design classic that we don’t notice the exposed rivet heads, and those old hat external door hinges and roof gutters. Quite simply, the 110 has become the benchmark four wheel drive utility vehicle. It’s been a player so long, it owns the game. But where did the one ten come from? How did it evolve?  The 110 birth starts with a problem what to do about the Series III. It’s important to understand there were just three basic incarnations of utility Land Rover before the 110 inch and they’re not what the company’s model label is trying to tell us.

First the Series I 80 inch buyers were offered one engine and one wheelbase. It did enough one engine to grab the post war marketplace and lasted five years.

Second the later series I. This established Land Rover as we now know them the convention of long and short wheelbase, the panel built station wagon, the choice of diesel or petrol. They lasted just another five years.

Third up all the series II,II A, and III models built between 1958 and 1983 and later fact Spot the difference? Right that’s five years  for one model, five years of the next and then more than 25 years of production held together with better trim, different grilles, improved door hinges, engine and gearbox tweaks and a variety of paint job.