Land Rover Defender 110 P400e 75th Anniversary

There are cars that borrow their identity from a myth. The Defender is the myth. Seventy years ago, Maurice Wilks reportedly sketched the contours of the first Land Rover in the sand of a beach in Wales, inspired by a discarded Willys Jeep. What followed was the car that kept the British Empire running long after that empire itself had ceased to exist. From the Scottish Highlands to the savannahs of Kenya, from farmyards in Yorkshire to Red Cross convoys: if there is one vehicle that has literally chewed its way across the entire world, it is this one.

And then, in 2016, it was over. Or rather, the classic Defender rolled off the line and everyone assumed Land Rover would die an ugly, sentimental death. Until 2020, when the new generation appeared, the L663, and half the internet was up in arms. Too round. Too modern. Too much iPad on wheels. Petrolheads with beards and Barbour jackets predicted the end of days.

And you know what? They were wrong. This new Defender may well be the handsomest reincarnation of an icon the car world has seen in decades. It still looks as though it could drag you into a ravine, but these days it does so with heated seats and an interior that no longer smells of wet dog and diesel oil.

Right, back to the Defender in question. What we have here is no ordinary 110, but the 75th Anniversary Edition. Precisely, the special version Land Rover released to celebrate seventy-five years of muddy adventures, and which you recognise above all by one thing: the colour. Grasmere Green. A deep, matte, almost military green that looks as though it stepped straight out of an archive photo of the very first Series I.

This is not a colour that screams for attention. This is a colour that says: I know exactly who I am, and you should count yourself lucky to be allowed to drive it.

Beneath that rugged body sits the P400e. A plug-in hybrid, and before you start thinking the romance has gone: this is a 2.0 four-cylinder petrol turbo paired with an electric motor, together good for 400 bhp. So you can glide silently onto the supermarket car park on electricity like an environmentally conscious citizen, only to unleash everything at once beyond the town limits and catapult 2,593 kilos forward with surprising violence.

It is the first Defender that keeps both your conscience and your right foot happy. And honestly, at a time when Sloane Street is packed with electric SUVs that all look alike, this is the only one with a pulse still in it.

The history of this example is just as you would want it. Delivered new in January 2023 in Rome, by Company Car Land Rover. An Italian Defender, then, and I find that charming: imagine this green thing threading its way down the Via Veneto between the Vespas and the Fiat Pandas. In November 2024 it came to the Netherlands, where it landed neatly in private hands. The servicing ran dutifully past the dealer, including at Land Rover Alkmaar, and yes, that is just around the corner from us, so that name gives me a warm feeling of coming home all the same.

What makes this Defender so appealing is that it never has to choose. It is too smart for the country pub and too rugged for the promenade. It parks just as easily outside a farm in the fens as outside a gallery opening in Chelsea. Five seats, leather upholstery, an automatic gearbox that is pure butter, and a presence that a whole row of Volvo commuters politely slides aside for.

Granted, it is big. Four metres seventy-five long, two metres wide. But a Defender is meant to be big. A small Defender is like a tame lion: technically interesting, but where is the fun.

This is a car for the enthusiast who understands that an icon does not belong in a museum, but on the road. Or in the mud. Or both, on the same day.

Seventy years of history, an Italian passport and a green coat that never goes out of fashion. This one does not drive away, it strides.

Special features

• Land Rover Defender 110 P400e 75th Anniversary Edition (2023)
• Plug-in hybrid: 2.0 petrol turbo plus electric motor, together 400 bhp
• Rare Grasmere Green, the colour of the 75th Anniversary
• Automatic, five seats, leather upholstery
• Originally an Italian car, delivered new in Rome
• Documented service history, including at Land Rover Alkmaar
• Euro 6, drives into the city on electricity, onto the motorway on petrol
• Latest L663 generation, the celebrated reincarnation of the icon
• VAT margin car

With muddy boots under the desk

Nick Slinger

Copywriter · HooG Selections