Contemporary review originally published in Road & Track Sport-Utilities, Pickups & Vans Buyer’s Guide 1993; republished by the author
No doubt, from the bottom of its 16-in. Michelin mud-and-snow tires to the top of its Paris-Moscow-Beijing Rally externally mounted rollbar, the Land Rover Defender 110 looks like a prop for a Banana Republic window display. It has that same aura of khakis and button-flap pockets. And while there’s no doubt some Defenders will be worn as deliberate dress-down hair shirts, there’s also no doubt that this patriarch of sport-utilities has impeccable bona fides dating to 1946.
It was then that Maurice Wilks, chairman of the British automaker Rover, drove an ex-U.S. Army four-wheel-drive vehicle on his farm and decided Rover could produce and sell an improved version. He was right. The Land Rover, as the no-frills off-roader was dubbed, was introduced in 1948 and, though improved over the years, has been built mostly the same as it was then. It has been sold, and driven, around the world, often in some of the most inhospitable places, to the extent that this four-wheeler has become safari and Third World cliché.
It was also marketed in the United States in small numbers through 1974, though absent in the colonies since then. Now the classic Land Rover is back as a 1993 model, just as Spartan and basic as ever, called the Defender 110.
Stylish as a camp stove, its body is aluminum – originally because sheet steel was unobtainable in postwar Britain but retained for rust-resistance, lightweight and low center of gravity – mounted over a rugged steel frame. There are solid axles front and rear, but with long-travel coil springs at each end for comfort and traction and Boge Hydromatt self-activating load-leveling for proper poise.
The U.S.-market version is powered by the fuel-injected aluminum 3.9-liter 180-bhp V-8 also found in the short-wheelbase Range Rover County, though while the luxury off-roader comes only with an automatic, the 110 has a five-speed manual only. The four-wheel drive is a full-time system, the same as found in the Range Rover, with a two-speed transfer case and manually locking center differential. It has high ground clearance: 8.5 inches under the offset differentials and eight-foot under the axle tubes. Its approach angle is 50 degrees, its departure angle 26 degrees. The Land Rover is no poseur.
The 110’s appearance is rough and ready as a Teddy Roosevelt campout; the front bumper looks ready to push a stalled rhino out of the slow lane. Compound curves are almost nonexistent on the Defender’s body, and the windshield, side and rear glass are as flat as your bedroom window. Door hinges are out where Wiles intended them, the fuel filler recessed into a simple alcove where it’s less likely to snag or be snagged. Lap joints are often as not exposed, and the rear door, on which the spare tire is mounted, looks like something off a school bus.
The interior is as rugged as the exterior. Don’t look for the Range Rover’s amenities here. The dash has more the look of expedience, as opposed to integrated design, with secondary gauges mounted in front of the passenger, for example. But the front cloth-covered seats are comfortable and the rear bench seatback folds down 60/40 or up and out of the way. There are also four center-facing jump seats in the rear, and while these are more suitable for kids or the help, they do give the Land Rover seating for a total of nine. And although the only way Land Rover will get near a Grand Touring car is to park next to one, a highway jaunt to the outback won’t punish the Defender’s occupants. It even has a top speed of about 90 mph.
Trailer pulling is more likely than land-speed-record attempts, and the Land Rover has a braked-trailer towing capacity 7700 lb with the transfer case in low. Unless you plan to go off-road. Then the limits a mere 2200 lb. The toting capability also includes 220 lb in the luggage rack atop the “safari cage,” as Land Rover calls the external roll bars. There’s another rollbar inside, behind the front buckets. The Land Rover’s gross vehicle weight rating is 6504 lb, over a curb weight of 4840 LB.
The GVWR, by the way, exempts the Defender from the federal luxury tax, which excludes multipurpose passenger vehicles with a GVWR of over 6000 pounds. The Land Rover’s base price is $39,900 plus $675 delivery – a Warn 8000-lb capacity winch is the only option available from the factory ($1900) – so the 110 is up there in luxury-car territory.
Land Rover of America (formerly Range Rover of America, but the name changed for the sake of the Defender and “future products”) imported only 500 Defender 100s for the 1993 model year and, from early reports of an enthusiastic buyer response, they may all be sold out by the time you read this. More’s the pity, because the 1993 Defender 110 is a special edition, individually numbered and every one fully equipped and painted ivory. Land Rover reps vow that nothing will be done to reduce the exclusivity of that model. On the other hand, while they admit that importation of the Range Rover will continue and that the smaller Discovery is under consideration in the US, they’re mum on plans regarding a rugged off-roader like the Defender.
Meanwhile, there’s no telling how U.S.-bound Defenders will be used. Some, no doubt, will see no more difficult obstacle than a shopping-mall speed bump while in search of the local Banana Republic. Others certainly will be used to and beyond their design capacity. Either way, you can be sure the Land Rover Defender 110 will get the job done. No doubt.
Addendum: Original photography by Ron Sessions.
The Defender 110 would be sold in the US for the 1993 model only. In addition to the 500 imported to the U.S., 25 went to Canada spec’d the same as the Defender for the States. The Land Rover would be back on this side of the pond in 1994 as the two-door Defender 90 and would continue only through 1997. An airbag would have been required for 1998, Land Rover deciding alterations deciding structural modifications wouldn’t be worthwhile for the small North American market.
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