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A handout photo taken on January 29, 2016, in Solihull, central England, shows the last-ever Land Rover Defender vehicle to be produced by Jaguar Land Rover, as it is driven off of the production line. The last-ever Land Rover Defender, a vehicle beloved by Queen Elizabeth II and featured in Hollywood blockbusters, rolled off the production line in Britain today. Indian-owned carmaker Jaguar Land Rover had already announced in late 2013 that the group would stop making the legendary Defender at its car plant in Solihull in the West Midlands in central England.
(HANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images)
Costas Pitas
LONDON — Reuters
Published Monday, Feb. 01, 2016 10:11AM EST
Last updated Monday, Feb. 01, 2016 10:21AM EST
The last classic Land Rover Defender, the 4x4 known the world over and with famous owners including Queen Elizabeth, rolled off the production line on Friday, 68 years since first being built.
Designed originally for farming and agricultural use, the offroader became an iconic British vehicle, popular with celebrities including Beatles singer Paul McCartney and late actor Steve McQueen, selling more than 2 million since 1948.
Indian-owned Tata bought two loss-making British brands Jaguar and Land Rover in 2008 and has since been rapidly updating and expanding its upmarket Range Rover line-up, but will now turn its attention to the Defender model.
“Any conventional vehicle would have been replaced many times over in the lifespan of Defender,” a spokeswoman at Jaguar Land Rover said.
“WeΆve now got the technology, pioneering engineering capability and design expertise to evolve Defender.”
It takes 56 hours to make the largely hand-built Defender at the firmΆs Solihull factory in central England, making it more expensive and time-consuming than many other vehicles which have a higher degree of machine assembly.
But the offroader has become synonymous with Britain thanks to owners such as the queen, who has been pictured riding and waving to crowds from the back of the 4x4 from as early as 1957 in Hyde Park and during a visit to Melbourne in 1977.
The first model was built in 1948, just three years after the end of World War Two, with rationing still in place and British industry trying to recover from heavy bombardment.
Due to a lack of steel, lightweight aluminium was used for the bodyshells and the vehicle has undergone a series of engine and design updates over nearly seven decades.
Neil Watterson, deputy editor of Land Rover Owner International magazine, said the vehicle had remained successful over so long due to its broad appeal.
“ItΆs always been a classless vehicle,” he said.
“It could be driven by the gamekeeper on the estate or it could be driven by the landowner, or the garage-owner with the breakdown truck and the fire brigade.”
