Background: Few vehicles have enjoyed the enduring appeal of the Land Rover Defender, a model whose origins can be traced back to the original Series I of 1948.

Developed over successive generations, the Defender retained its distinctive utilitarian styling, rugged construction and exceptional off-road capability, becoming one of Britain's most recognisable automotive designs.

Powered by the 2.2-litre four-cylinder TDCi diesel engine, introduced in 2012, these later examples featured a six-speed manual gearbox and a dual-range transfer box, offering the combination of strong low-speed torque and genuine all-terrain capability for which the model became renowned. By 2016, the traditional Defender was approaching the end of its remarkable production run, with increasingly stringent emissions and safety requirements bringing manufacture to a close in January of that year.

The final models benefited from decades of development whilst retaining the separate chassis, permanent four-wheel ...