68 years after production of the classic model began; the last Land Rover Defender will roll off the production line in the West Midlands, today January 29th 2016.
The four wheel drive vehicle has been produced since 1948 in Solihull by various owners including British Leyland, BMW, Ford and now Tata through Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).
The Defender, which got its name in 1990, represented the continuation of the very first Land Rover modeled on the wartime jeep.
Since its launch, more than 2 million Land Rovers and Defenders have been sold, with 308 model derivatives. The Defender has featured in films such as James Bond movie Skyfall, has been a long-running supplier to the royals as well as a vehicle used by British troops.
The Land Rover was originally marketed as the “go anywhere” vehicle option, “for the farmer, the countryman and general industrial use”.
JLR are now working on a replacement for the Defender.
Tardis now has ten of the recognisable off-road vehicles in our fleet.
Tardis Land Rovers are suitable jobs in hard to reach or off-road areas:
- Toilet block tank emptying
- Welfare servicing
- Water delivery
- Water delivered for soak away / percolation testing
- Towing water bowsers, fuel bowsers and dust suppression bowsers
- Towing mobile vacuum tankers
- Delivering portable toilets
- Delivering mobile shower blocks
- Event support vehicles
- Tardis site services teams