As you can tell reading this page, I am a big fan of the Land Rover mark, but they are far from perfect.

At a the 2000 NEC motorshow I asked the Land Rover sales man, "when are you going to put a proper dash in the Defender". He replied "it’s a classic, we can’t mess with that…. But I think you’re probably right, it is dated". At the 2002 motorshow in Birmingham I asked the same question, "when are you going to update the Defender, especially the very poor dash", I got a very flippant reply "the enthusiasts won’t let us" plus a spiel about how you can’t change a classic mark etc. It made me think that the end in nigh for the Defender if this was that attitude of the LR staff.

Build quality has been an on going problem with LR on all models but the Defender seems to be in the most trouble. The Defender is the cornerstone of the company’s products but seems to be the poor relation, just getting hand-me-downs from the other more prestigious models. Even looking on a lot of dealer websites you often find Defenders are not listed on the stock lists – they don’t want people with muddy boots in their shiny showrooms? Are Land Rover’s new owners, Ford, looking to let the Defender die…aided and abetted by under investment? Over the past 3 decades Defender/SIII sales have been slowly eroded by the onslaught of Japanese 4x4’s… why is this? Because they are generally cheaper and more reliable than the LR product with an interior that’s up to date.

The big points that Defenders lets itself down on are:

1) Interior hasn’t moved on from the SIII, throw some loose change on the dash in a Defender and it will be lost as it disappears down the holes at the back only to re-appear 2 weeks later in the foot well. There’s no sensible place to mount a radio/stereo. For a vehicle that generally has added equipment to it, e.g. extra lights, a winch etc… there is no accessories panel to mount extra switch gear.

2) LR finally fixed one bug bear. The bulkhead behind the front seats in the 90. This stopped the seats going back, even though I am 5’11’’ tall I couldn’t get a good driving position, good luck to a 6’6’’ builder! The answer LR have come up with is pretty crude, a thick tube bracing the sides.

3) Panel fit is pretty ropey, its rare to see a Defender where the doors fit well, especially around the top of the window frame.

4) For a vehicle that is designed to go any where, any time, the heater is crap. Often when driving in snow for an extended period of time condensation would become a problem. I’m glad I never had a 110, heating that volume would have been a real problem.

5) Why design a utility vehicle that the gearbox will not drop out from below, it has to come out through the cab!

6) Why fit the spare wheel to the rear door as a factory standard when the rear door hinges aren’t up to the job?

7) Why have an option of a bonnet mounted spare wheel when the bonnet isn’t strong enough for the job?

I could list more…

The point is none of the above would require a team full of rocket scientists to fix, but the progress since the 90/110 range was launched has been pretty poor:

1) It got handed down the excellent Tdi engine from the Discovery.

2) A new gearbox from the Discovery

3) All round discs

4) Removal of the bulkhead in the 90

5) The TD5 engine from the New Disco

6) Hill descent an traction control form the Disco

Little else has moved on and very little has been done to develop the Defender that isn’t a spin off of the Disco/Range Rover/Freelander models. People buying Disco/Range Rover/Freelander are generally buying an image, that image has been built on the reputation on the Defender and the SI,II and III that preceded it. LR need to bring the Defender into the 21st century before it becomes a novelty act (the Mini and 2CV were revolutionary cars in their day) and that, precious image disappears…then Range Rover is just a very lardy, slow, roley poley luxury limo.