It's fair to say that we were properly gutted when Land Rover announced it would be ending production of its iconic Defender model in 2015, bringing to and end more than sixty years of harsh, noisy, utilitarian Landy goodness.
Land Rover Defender production to end
Happily though the Defender is going out with something of a bang as Land Rover has just announced it will be the star of an all-new one-make race series.
The Defender challenge, as the series will be known, will act as a feeder series to a range of cross-country rallies including the Dakar Rally. The series will be run by Bowler Motorsport (of Wildcat and Nemesis fame), with Land Rover supplying 15 competition-ready Defender 90s to compete on the seven UK rally stages which will host the series.
Unlike most of Bowler's creations, however, the Defenders will be only lightly modified from factory-spec. The standard 2.2-litre diesel engine has been boosted to churn out 17-bhp and 322lb-ft and the suspension has been uprated with new dampers, springs, bushes and roll bars.
The cars also get racing seats, six-point harnesses, a roll cage and a fire extinguisher.
With each Defender costing £50,000 before tax and entry into the Defender Challenge costing an extra £10,000 on top of that, going rallying in the Defender won't be cheap. However, Land Rover claims that the car is completely road-legal and can be driven to and from the races.
So, £70,000-ish for a Defender with racing pedigree and entry to six rally stages, or £71,310 for an entry-level Range Rover. Which would you choose?
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