THE BEST Land Rover

On April 30, 1948, famed British off-road brand Land Rover first came into being. To celebrate the company’s birthday, they’ve shared a terrific gallery of historic images which capture scenes of these rugged and versatile vehicles helping people achieve great things.

While we’re hoping to get behind of the wheel of the new Land Rover Defender soon, a small group of journalists was invited to take the rugged, yet modern off-roader on a 3-day drive through the harsh terrain of Namibia. Carfection’s Henry Catchpole was one of the lucky few, and shares with us his African odyssey.

Land Rover shows off some capabilities of its new 2020 Defender with stunt footage from the James Bond flick No Time to Die. Like the Defender of yore off-roader tears through mud, rocks, and streams, gets some air, and even a crazy rollover. The vehicles received no body reinforcements other than roll cages for safety.

Now that the Land Rover Defender is back, LEGO has taken wraps off its official Technic model of the off-roader. This 2,573 piece minifig-scale model measures 16.5″(l) x 8.6″(h) x 7.8″(w), and has a 4-speed gearbox, all-wheel drive, independent suspension, a winch, and a 6-cylinder engine with moving pistons. Drops 10/2019.

Land Rover’s rugged off-roader is back. It comes in 2-door (90) and 4-door (110) models, with a highly-configurable interior, twin-speed transmission, advanced terrain management systems, electronic active differential, air suspension, and can wade in up to 35.4″ of water. Choose from a 3.0L 395hp I6 MHEV or a 2.0L 296hp turbo I4.

We recently put the 2020 Range Rover Evoque through its paces on an extensive route from Athens to the Peloponnese, across highways, twisty, foggy mountain roads, rocky paths and streams, and even across a bridge normally reserved for trains. Full review on 95octane.

Land Rover is teasing us with its first images of the new Defender – thinly disguised under camouflage during testing. This time out, the rugged SUV will be coming to the US and Canada, offering off-roaders capability, comfort, and technology like no Defender before it.

Partridge Design specializes in building custom motorcycles, but they knocked it out of the park with their slammed Series II Land Rover. The build features a lowered suspension, aircraft-style seats, a rebuilt engine and a wonderful raw metal finish.

After tearing through 99 nailbiting turns on the way up, Panasonic Jaguar Racing driver Ho-Pin Tung and a Range Rover Sport Plug-In Hybrid became the first vehicle ever to climb the insanely steep 999 steps to the top of Heaven’s Gate at Tianmen Mountain, China.

This multi tool is one of the more interesting items in Land Rover UK’s online shop. Shaped like the Defender, it has 11 tools in one credit-card sized package, including a tire tread gauge, a cutter and a bottle opener.

A very special way to wrap up the last-gen Land Rover Defender, this model packs a 400 hp 5.0L V8 engine, an 8-speed ZF automatic gearbox, Recaro leather seats, and does 0-to-60 in 5.6 sec. Limited to just 150 vehicles, and sadly none of them are headed to the US.

Traxxas‘ trail-conquering RC car is just as tough and versatile as the vehicle that inspired it. The TRX-4 has an officially-licensed Land Rover Defender body, steel links and U-joints, remote locking differentials and Traxxas’ unique Portal axle.

We recently hit the road from Palm Springs to test drive Land Rover’s new mid-size SUV. We were duly impressed with the styling, handling, and comfort of the Velar, which offers a smooth ride, slick new tech, off-road capabilities, and much more. Read our full review on 95octane.

We know first hand how good the Land Rover Discovery is good at towing things – we shot the video they used of the snow-bound 18-wheeler being towed by one. But we didn’t know it could pull a 121-ton, 328 ft road train like this Discovery HSE Td6 recently did in Australia.

An extremely special variant of the already awesome Land Rover Discovery, the SVX has even better ground clearance, approach, departure, and breakover angles, off-road tires, a specially-tuned terrain management system, and a 517 hp supercharged V8 engine.

One of 10 Defenders that were customized for the bad guys to drive in the James Bond film Spectre. It has 37″ tires bolted to the wheels, an engine tweaked to produce 187 hp and 369 lb-ft. of torque, Bilstein dampers and Recaro safety harnesses.

We’re in love with the Moraine Blue paint on this special edition of Land Rover’s sleek SUV. It also gets unique 19″ dark gloss wheels, a grey panoramic roof, and a sporty body kit. Inside, there are dark grey accents, and Ebony leather seats with Light Lunar stitching.

Wild Fennec’s upgrade for the classic Land Rover Defender adds an expandable living area in the rear, complete with a kitchen, dining room, sleeping area, and even a toilet. The whole thing can be opened or closed in under 45 seconds.

Petrolicious scored a ride in this awesome 1981 Range Rover in Sandglow yellow. We’re introduced to its owner, John Holland, and learn about his love for the boxy British off-roader. Unlike some classic cars that sit in a garage, it’s great to see this one used as it was intended.

This new model fits between the Evoque and the Sport, offering luxury, performance, and capability for 5 passengers. We love the sleek styling both outside and in, especially the dual 10″ touchscreen displays. Available with 4 cyl. turbo, diesel, and supercharged V6 engines.

We took the latest Discovery for a road trip across Utah and Arizona, and this versatile 7-seater proved it has the chops to live up to the Land Rover name, taking on sand, mud, snow, dirt, rocks, rain, and even towing a distressed semi along the way. Full review on 95octane.

We flew to Arjeplog, Sweden to drive some of Jaguar and Land Rover’s awesome cars on challenging ice circuits, and spent the better part of a week going sideways and doing donuts. Attend for yourself, and you might even catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights.

A beautifully restored specimen of the Land Rover, the Series IIA. It’s been repainted in orange  (one of the options when the off-roader first came out), with Wolf Wheels, Mud BF Goodrich tires and a few modern amenities such as a USB charging port.

LEGO master Sariel made this badass model of the Defender 90. It moves like a turtle even in fourth gear, but yeah, it has a fourth gear. It also has 4×4 drive, a working winch, locking differentials, and can be controlled from up to 160ft away thanks to the SBrick module.

This daft, yet awesome concept design from YasidDESIGN combines the body styling of a Land Rover Defender with the ground-hugging properties of a stock car. Before you off-road and NASCAR purists get your panties in a bunch, it’s only a rendering.

During their recent trip to the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series in Chicago, we had a chance to visit with the Land Rover BAR team, and got see what goes into hydrofoil racing, from the engineering of the boats to the sheer fortitude of each crew member.