1990 EUROPE IMPORT ! This is one of the best looking defenders, fully restored

History of the Land Rover

The Land Rover Series range was launched in 1948 and the model, now known as the Defender, was launched in 1983 and the continuous run finished in January 2016, after 67 years. Land Rovers were inspired by the US-built Willys Jeep immediately after the war and by 1992 they claimed that 70% of all the vehicles they had ever built were still in use. The Defender and Series ranges have had unique international presence throughout the production run, having been exported, manufactured and produced under licence by a number of other manufacturers in a variety of markets, to include Australia, Southern and North Africa, Turkey, Brazil, Pakistan and Malaysia, to name just a few. In 1993 Land Rover decided to take the plunge into the US market after their successful launch of the Range Rover brand in 1987 in order to offer an upmarket alternative to the Jeep Wrangler targeted at adventurous buyers. Land Rover finally had to retract their offering from the North American and Canadian markets in 1997 due to economic viability. The defenders offered in the US during the 90’s had to be significantly modified in comparison to Land Rover’s other export markets. Subsequent federal safety regulation amendments finally withdrew the defender from the US market entirely in 1997, with Land Rover throwing their attention towards upmarket Discovery and Range Rover models that were being built from the ground up.