It would always be very difficult for Land Rover to replace Defender, we all knew that. And a few contradictory voices aside, especially from the most ardent fans of the original, it's an almost unanimous opinion that the new Defender it is an excellent product, yet this modern reincarnation is always haunted by the same question: is it a worthy heir to the original?
Richard Hammond, from The Grand Tour, in his different test for the Drive Tribe, will try to answer this existential question.
In this video we see him… taking his dog for a walk, while we get to know a little better the new Defender he is driving. He even introduces us to his Land Rover Series I, the sire of all Land Rovers to this day, of which the new Defender is a direct heir to the lineage, which appears to be in the middle of a 10-year restoration — no one would say, by the look...
"This is the best Discovery they've ever done"
We got to know the new Defender a little better, Richard Hammond even takes us back in time to get to know a little better the reasons why there was even a model like the original Land Rover (Series I), and of course, the obvious conclusion is that the new Defending could never be like its predecessor.
The world in which the original Land Rover was born is quite different from the one we live in now, and Hammond draws a series of parallels between that world of yore and ours. For example, nowadays, Defender is no longer intended for the farmer and working on the farm. Nor would it be acceptable (or possible) a machine as utilitarian as the Series I was. For this work, there are, as he highlights, competent pick-ups that have already occupied this space for a long time.
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Defender had to reinvent itself and adapt to modern times. The off-road capabilities are still there, but they will now be used more for leisure than for some utilitarian function. And pure, hard utilitarianism has been replaced by comfort, refinement and versatility of use — and it also seems to have become less of a friend to our best friend, as its muddy paws will only soil the very pale skin that covers the seats in this luxurious model.
Returning to the original question, is the new Defender a worthy heir to its predecessor's legacy? Considering the characteristics and qualities of the new model, Richard Hammond is peremptory and tells Land Rover: “the new Defender is the best… Discovery they've ever made” . Do you agree?
Well… The only thing the new Defender lacked in this “test” was a bit of off-road action. Mr. Richard Hammond did not provide it, but we are here to fill that gap. Stay with Guilherme and the new Land Rover Defender, in off-road action, at Quinta do Conde: