Back to the origins, with V8
The Land Rover Defender of the old school has never completely retired, as it turns out again. Land Rover is releasing a Classic Defender with V8 that goes back to the model’s origins.
The primal Defender may have been out of series production for more than seven years, but Land Rover can’t let it rest. Since that time, several limited Classic Defenders have appeared based on previously built Defenders. In 2017, Land Rover also installed a fantastic V8 in the old Defender. They repeated that in 2021 and also in 2023 the Defender Works V8 chapter has not yet been closed. This Classic Defender Works V8 Islay Edition – quite a mouthful – is the first primal Defender with V8 that gives Land Rover a historic sauce.
The name Islay Edition refers to the Scottish island of Islay, where Land Rover founder Spencer Wilks lived and tested prototypes of the first Land Rover in the 1940s. The Islay Edition livery references the Land Rover Defender Series IIa that Wilks drove himself in his old age. The interior also has a nice classic touch, with tweed upholstery made from wool spun on Islay. Some wooden details in the interior are made from a whiskey barrel from a local whiskey brewery.
The Classic Defender Works V8 Islay Edition next to Wilks’ Defender
A Defender that looks nice and classic, but at the same time very strong. After all, there is an atmospheric 5.0 V8 in the nose that punches out 411 hp and 515 Nm and passes that on to the wheels via an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission. This allows you to accelerate from 0 to 96 km/h (60 mph) in just 5.6 seconds. Are you charmed by this special combination of classic style and speed? Only thirty Defenders will be converted to Islay Edition and in the UK they charge at least around €260,000.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl