A wondrous white Land Rover Defender 110, seen at a shopping mall in Beijing, China. The old British beast looks great, especially with the black grille and the white wheels. License plate is of Liaoning province.
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Production of the Land Rover Defender started all the way back in 1983, and ended only in 2016. Land Rover recently launched a reworked limited edition ‘Works V8’, and an all-new Defender will debut next year.
Over the years the Defender has been on/off in China. Sometimes it was officially available, sometimes not. There has been some gray import as well, and some cars arrived via diplomatic channels.
The car we have here today is an official import, sold in China from 2010 until 2014. Land Rover sold both the 3-door Defender 90 and the 5-door Defender 110. There was just one engine: a 2.2 turbo diesel with 122 hp and 360 Nm, mated to a 6-speed manual. There was only one trim level too, and thus one price: the 110 went for a massive and totally idiotic 748.000 yuan. No wonder it is ultra rare…
The interior of these 2010’s cars was somewhat modern, with a tiny screen for the infotainment, round air vents, and a steering wheel with an airbag. But look only at the giant gear lever and you know you are dealing with a very old car.
Old as it may be, it still looks great. Tail lights are minuscule compared to contemporary SUVs, but the mud flaps are huge. What always strikes me when looking at these older designs is how big the windows are. New cars have a much smaller window-surface.
It isn’t really for today anymore, but still I wish there would be more.