Some cars are launched quietly. Some arrive with advertisements. And then there is the Land Rover Defender, a vehicle that doesn’t come to the market – it enters history again and again.
Originally launched in 1983, the Defender is one of the very few automobiles on the planet that has lived multiple lives. It started as a farmer’s tool, then became a military workhorse, and today, in its 2025 third-generation avatar, it stands proudly as a full-blown British luxury SUV costing between ₹1 crore and ₹2.60 crore. Yes, the same car that once carried soldiers now carries wireless chargers and ambient lighting.
The model you are looking at here is the Defender 110 X-Dynamic HSE, priced at ₹1.39 crore ex-showroom. This is the four-door version, while the Defender family also includes the two-door Defender 90 and the long-wheelbase seven-seater Defender 130. In simple terms, Defender has now become a complete luxury surname rather than just a single model.
What makes the Defender special is not just its price or features, but the fact that it is among the most famous SUVs in the world. With over 20 lakh units sold globally, and a historic 33-year single-generation production run, it once held the title of being the 16th longest-running car model in automotive history. That kind of legacy cannot be bought, no matter how rich you are.
This generation Defender carries the codename L663 and is designed by Gerry McGovern, the same man responsible for shaping modern icons like the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport. The result is a design that looks brutally tough but still expensive enough to park outside a five-star hotel without feeling underdressed. Built on Jaguar Land Rover’s D7x platform, the Defender uses a Uniframe chassis that is three times stronger than traditional body-on-frame SUVs. In practical terms, this car is structurally tougher than most Indian flyovers.
The Defender 110 measures almost five metres in length, two metres in height and over two metres in width. It has a 293 mm ground clearance, can wade through 900 mm of water, tow up to 3500 kg, and carry 168 kg on its roof. The turning circle is a massive 13 metres, which means U-turns require planning, prayers and sometimes Google Maps.
Land Rover didn’t just design the Defender; they tried very hard to destroy it. The car has undergone 12 lakh kilometres of testing, over 45,000 individual tests, extreme temperature trials ranging from +50°C deserts to -40°C arctic conditions, and even monsoon simulations using 85,000 litres of dyed water. After all this, if the Defender ever breaks down, it’s not mechanical failure – it’s destiny.
Finished here in the classic Fuji White, the Defender is also available in black, grey, brown, blue and green, along with multiple dual-tone roof options. The design is dominated by LED headlamps with washers, gloss black grille elements, darkened tail lamps, quad exhaust pipes and massive 20-inch alloy wheels wrapped in German-made Goodyear Wrangler all-terrain tyres. The spare wheel sits proudly on the tailgate like a badge of honour, reminding everyone behind you that this car is always ready for something terrible to happen.
Inside, the Defender feels like an army tank that secretly went to business school. You get rich Windsor leather upholstery, rugged rubber flooring, electrically adjustable heated and cooled seats, configurable ambient lighting and a massive panoramic glass roof. There’s even an optional centre jump seat, just like old-school Defenders, so your cabin can suddenly turn into a six-seater conversation pit.
Practicality is taken seriously too, with 786 litres of boot space, expanding to 1875 litres when seats are folded. A third row is optional, and there’s an integrated air compressor that lets you inflate or deflate tyres from inside the car. This is probably the only luxury SUV in the world where you can wear a Rolex while adjusting tyre pressure for sand driving.
The technology inside the Defender is equally impressive. A large 13.1-inch Pivi Pro touchscreen handles infotainment duties, supporting wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, navigation, ClearSight bonnet view and remote vehicle functions. A 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster sits behind the steering wheel, and the Meridian sound system delivers enough power to make even patriotic army songs feel cinematic.
Where the Defender truly humiliates other luxury SUVs is off-road technology. With all-wheel drive, electronic air suspension, Terrain Response 2, All Terrain Progress Control, adaptive dynamics, electronic active differential, wade sensing and low-traction launch, this car is so intelligent that even if you have never gone off-road in your life, the Defender will quietly do everything for you while pretending it’s easy.
Safety is taken just as seriously. The Defender has received five-star ratings from both Euro NCAP and Australian NCAP, and comes loaded with airbags, stability systems, driver monitoring, emergency braking, 360-degree cameras, trailer stability and child seat mounts. Honestly, this car is more protective of your life than your health insurance policy.
And then comes the real star of the show – the engine. Under the bonnet sits a glorious 5.0-litre supercharged V8 Jaguar AJ133 petrol engine producing 419 horsepower and 550 Nm of torque. It does 0 to 100 km/h in 5.8 seconds, which is frankly ridiculous for something that weighs 2.4 tonnes and looks like it could carry a small building. Top speed is 191 km/h, mileage is around 8 kmpl, and the fuel tank holds 90 litres, because this engine is always thirsty for adventure and premium petrol.
This same engine has powered legends like the Jaguar F-Type R, Range Rover Sport SVR and XE SV Project 8. The emotional part is that this Defender is one of the last models in the world to use this iconic 5.0-litre V8. Future Defenders will switch to BMW’s 4.4-litre V8, which may be better on paper but will never have the same British soul.
So what is the Land Rover Defender 110 really? It is not practical, not economical, and not logical. It is a vehicle built for people who don’t ask “kitna deti hai”, but instead ask “yeh mujhe duniya ke kis kone tak le ja sakti hai”.
The Defender is the only SUV that can attend a war zone, a wildlife safari and a billionaire wedding – all on the same weekend. It is not just a car. It is a moving piece of automotive history that accidentally learned luxury along the way.
