Land Rover DEFENDER SILVER SPECIAL EDITION
Its Silver. There, blown the gaff, pooped the party, micturated on the road test bonfire before weve even hit the second paragraph. Not that it took a great deal of working out. The Land Rover Defender Silver Special Editions key feature was never really that hard to finger.
Whats perhaps a little more interesting is the reason why the Defender Silver is Silver. This doyen of the Dales is Silver because - and here we have to trust the collective wisdom of Land Rovers marketing department it appeals to an urban market. One would suspect that the Defenders success as an urban scoot is probably about as likely as TVR shifting an unsold stock of Tuscans to farmers looking for something to round lame cattle up with but the marketing gurus at Gaydon obviously think theyre onto something here. In the same way that Arnie tools about in a Hummer, one can almost see the logic, except that the Austrian Oak uses his on the streets of Los Angeles where the roads are so wide, pedestrians use their cars to negotiate pelican crossings.
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"The luxury fitments worn by the Defender Silver give it an air of premium product"
All Defender Silver models are powered by Solihulls proven, rugged 2.5 litre, five cylinder turbocharged diesel engine developing 122 PS and have a five speed manual gearbox, a two speed transfer box and (of course) permanent four-wheel drive. Three hundred limited editions are being built for the UK with prices starting from £24,595 for the 90" Station Wagon, £26,995 for the 110" Station Wagon and £24,795 for the 110" Double Cab. Despite Land Rovers best efforts, the Defender is never going to be your typical metropolitan lounge lizard: theres just too much of the great outdoors in the DNA. Just as you can put Handy Andy in a dinner jacket but wouldnt expect him to transform into Noel Coward, so it is the Defender Silver. The half leather upholstery and CD stereo are nice touches, and the cheque plate trim on the wing tops and body sides is very Met Bar, but the rugged five cylinder turbodiesel represents the wellies sprouting from beneath the tailored trousers. All versions, as weve said, are powered by that Td5 direct injection turbo diesel engine, first introduced on the old-shape Discovery to rave reviews.
Decent on-road performance and improved refinement will probably not be priorities for existing Defender buyers but theyre vital if the Defender Silver is to carry odd the dual-purpose role with any success. The 122PS is so clean that a catalyst is not even needed and can go for 12,000 miles between oil changes twice that of the competition. You could compare Japanese alternatives but in reality, theyre not really in the same market. A Defender is an honest, tough and completely capable four-wheel drive tool that will never date, will run forever and will probably never let you down.
Not that its entirely utilitarian. On the contrary, the Defender Silver is specified with an anti-lock braking system that incorporates Land Rovers four-wheel Electronic Traction Control (ETC). With some significant off-road benefits, it would be a shame if urban types never found anything more testing than a multi-storey up ramp to tackle. Whats beyond argument is that the Defender is a design classic of proven durability, a vehicle in which you can look with disdain upon any other 4x4, although Jeep Wrangler drivers may claim an honourable exception.
The luxury fitments worn by the Silver also give it an air of premium product and will doubtless attract new owners to the brand whod previously considered a Defender far too agricultural. Having said that, if youre buying one to sally about town in, youre missing the point and youll have achieved the almost unthinkable laying a Land Rover Defender open to the charge of being style over substance. So do us all a favour. See that green stuff that lies outside the ring road? Thats the country.
See how the other half live. Observe their arcane pastoral traditions. Admire the bucolic tranquility of hill and dale. And then drive all over them.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Land Rover Defender Silver special edition range
PRICES: £24,595-£26,995 on the road
INSURANCE GROUPS: 9-10 CO2 [g/km] / EMISSIONS BANDS: 266g/km / D
PERFORMANCE: [90 Td5] Max Speed 88mph / 0-60mph 15.4s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [90 Td5] [urban] 23.2mpg / [extra urban] 31.4mpg / [combined] 27.9mpg
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: [90] Length/Width/Height" 153/80/77"
