DEFENDING THE TITLE

CAN A NEW DEFENDER LIVE UP TO THE NAME THAT WAS BUILT UP OVER 70 YEARS OF LAND ROVER HISTORY? WE HEAD TO NAMIBIA’S WILD WEST COAST TO DRIVE THE NEW MODEL AND FIND OUT.

- MATT RAUDONIKIS

Forget everything you’ve come to know about the Land Rover Defender over the past decades. In fact, forget Defender all together and ignore the lettering across the front of this new model. Let’s just call it the new Land Rover.

Why, you ask? Because comparing this new Land Rover to any model that came before it is irrelevant. The L663 Land Rover bares no commonalities to the Defender and Series models of the past, save for a few token style elements that pay homage to the classic models.

What we have here is an all-new Land Rover that applies the brand’s ‘Breadth of capability’ slogan to a nameplate that was essentially a commercial vehicle. To do this Land Rover had to retain the go-anywhere off-road ability of the model with vastly improved on-road dynamics and manners. While other recent new Land Rovers have laid on the luxury to extend their breadth in that direction, the L663 is all about practicality and everyday usefulness to appeal to more buyers at a more affordable price point.

When the new L663 Defender arrives in Australia in August as the 110 wagon it will start at $69,990 for the entry level D200 and run through a nine-variant range to the $137,100 X P400. The short wheelbase Defender 90 will arrive later in the year and is expected to reflect a similar model range at a $3-5K lower price point.