Land Rover 90／110／127／officially renamed Defender
From 1983 to 1990
In fact, as early as 1983, when the Series III had not been discontinued, its replacement model, the Land Rover 110, was introduced. The 110 figure represented 110 inches (2790mm). By 1984, a Land Rover 90 was added, with a wheelbase of 93.9 inches (2385mm).
Then in 1985, Land Rover launched the Land Rover 127 with a 127-inch (3226mm) wheelbase, and the awkward situation came.
In 1989, Land Rover sold models such as Range Rover, Discovery, and Land Rover 90/110/127, which puzzled many people because the 90/110/127 series had the same brand name.
In light of this, Land Rover has decided to rename the Land Rover 90/110/127 models to further standardize the division of its models.
● 1990-pr
In 1990, the name Defender () was officially established as an alternative name for the Land Rover 90/110/127 model, corresponding to the Defender 90/110/130. The meaning of Defender has two aspects, one is because the Land Rover off-road vehicle was widely popular with the military of various countries at that time, and the other is the hope that the Defender car series will continue to defend Land Rover’s important position in the global market.
Despite the name change, the Defender still maintains the Founder design of Land Rover 90/110/127. In fact, fundamentally speaking, it still retains many classic design elements of the ancestral Series I. In fact, since 1990, the Defender has basically not undergone major changes in appearance.
At the outset of the Defender’s launch, the car was powered by a 2.5-liter in-line four-cylinder diesel, earlier known as the 200TDi, which reached 80kW (108PS) and was 264N · m.
In 1998, in response to increasingly stringent emissions standards around the world, Defender replaced the previous diesel engine with a 2.5-liter in-line five-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine called the Td5. It is worth noting that on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Land Rover in 1998, Defender also launched a special edition model equipped with the 4.0-liter V8 gasoline engine of the then Range Rover.
In the period 1997-2000, due to the acquisition of Land Rover, Defender also used a 22.8-liter inline-six gasoline engine with a maximum of 142 kW (193 PS) and a maximum of 280 N · m.
Then in 2007, due to the acquisition of the ill-fated Land Rover as early as 2000, Defender replaced the Td5 diesel engine with a 2.4-liter inline-four diesel engine from Ford in order to keep pace with emissions regulations.
In addition to the improvement in power, the guard has made few obvious adjustments to other aspects. The appearance is still square, and the details of the engine cover have a more obvious raised design, which makes its hard-line atmosphere even stronger.
In terms of interior design, despite the development of the times, the interior of the guard has also added comfort features such as air conditioning, but overall it is still mainly practical.
In terms of off-road performance, the guard still continues the tradition of hard-line off-road. The front and rear suspension structure and the unstoppable mechanical style are all classic elements of the guard in people’s hearts.
It is worth mentioning that, in fact, in 2004, the Guard was introduced to China, but the high domestic price has deterred many enthusiasts. You know, the Guard has always been positioned as a tool vehicle for rough work.
In 2011, Land Rover again revamped the Defender, but the focus of the improvement was still on power. The previous 2.4-liter inline-four-cylinder diesel engine was replaced by the 2.2-liter four-cylinder turbo diesel engine from Ford, with a maximum power of 90kW (122PS) and a maximum torque of 360N · m.
But the news of the Defender model change was not the most significant this year. The more significant news was that in the same year, Land Rover publicly admitted that as the Defender was gradually unable to keep up with the development of emissions and safety regulations, the company was working on a new car research and development project aimed at replacing the Defender. Based on this, Land Rover released a concept car called the DC100 in September of that year. However, the DC100 concept car was not recognized by fans, because there was hardly any trace of the Defender on it.