Land Rover Defender
The Land Rover Defender is a British four wheel drive Off-road utility vehicle. It is the product of continued development of the original utility Land Rover Series I launched in 1948. Using the basic yet robust underpinnings of a ladder frame chassis and aluminium body, the Defender is available in a huge variety of body types (as of 2007, 20000 major body types are available from the factory, plus many more specialist versions such as fire engines, hydraulic platforms and military versions). Defenders are used for a very wide variety of purposes- from agricultural and industrial users to a large number of military customers. Defenders are also a common choice for use on expeditions and surveys throughout the world. As well as these more traditional roles, in recent years the Defender has been increasingly used by families and individuals as a private car.
The Defender was not an entirely new model at launch. It used engines and body panels carried over from the Series III Land Rover; gearbox, axles and suspension from the Range Rover.