Newly Printed Land Rover 75th-Anniversary Defender

• Next year will mark 75 years since the first Land Rover, the Series I, was shown to the public at the 1948 Amsterdam Motor Show.
  
• The commemorative Defender, known as the 75th Limited Edition, will be available in two- and four-door configurations but will only come with a 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six engine.
• Standard features include a folding fabric roof and an 11.4-inch touchscreen, but the signature feature is the exclusive Grasmere Green paint for this model.

Launched to the automotive public accustomed to post-World War II austerity, the original Land Rover combined the ride quality of a tractor with the creature comforts of a tin garden shed. It was a kind of Wellington boot on wheels, capable of everything from farm labor to global exploration. Every early Land Rover exudes a deep sense of England. And maybe a little oil slick.

To celebrate the timeless charm of the original effort, Jaguar Land Rover has launched a commemorative edition of the Defender today. The modern Land Rover is a completely different beast from its agricultural ancestors, as the high-rise apartments in London’s One Hyde Park are luxurious compared to the thatched shepherds’ cottages. However, the new Defender is still great, and this is what’s special.

75^thThe Limited Edition will be available in 90 or 110 trims, Land Rover’s term for the two-door short wheelbase and the longer four-door version. Regardless of the number of doors, all will be powered by the P400 class 3.0-liter inline-six. A turbocharged and supercharged hybrid, this engine is good for 395 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque. An eight-speed automatic transmission is standard, as is—of course—four-wheel drive on demand.

Standard interior features on the Defender 75^th The Limited Edition is a blend of luxury and off-road intent. There’s a folding fabric roof that retracts to let the outdoors in, and the center console is trimmed with a material designed to be abused. At the same time, 75^th gets heated seats and steering wheel, heads-up screen, upgraded stereo, and an 11.4-inch touchscreen to handle infotainment tasks.

The true story is the paint, dubbed Grasmere Green. We last saw this shade in the Heritage Edition Defenders, and it’s a direct link to the early Land Rover. The kind of semi-institutional color you might see in 1950s British hospitals, it’s a bit lighter and less metallic than the greens found elsewhere in the automotive landscape.

Land Rover Defender Legacy Edition.

For 75^thLimited Edition, the green color extends to the painted wheels and interior accents as well. It’s still Wellie on wheels. But its really very good. Prices are expected to be announced in the near future.