Defiant Defender

A three-door version of the legendary SUV, reimagined for the 21st century, is the Land Rover Defender 90. We get behind the wheel to find out what the shorter wheelbase adds to the equation

- Kurt Morris 

IN THE JAMES BOND FILM NO TIME TO Die, the car that got a lot of screen time chasing James Bond was the Land Rover Defender. The black Land Rover Defender SUVs were the biggest and fiercest of them all. These SUVs have been observed making leaps, rolling over, crashing, and engaging in both on- and off-road highspeed chase manoeuvres. Because they were delivered directly from the factory to the filming locations, the Land Rover Defender SUVs in No Time to Die are in reality highly unique.

Thus, when the Defender 90 showed up at Car India, the entire office fawned over it as if a movie star had shown up. From our admin personnel to even our design team as well as the entire editorial team all sought to check out this iconic SUV.

The Defender 90's may appear a little unexpected at first glance, especially if you've only ever seen the fivedoor Defender 110. Gerry McGovern, Chief Creative Officer for Land Rover, has really used his philosophy of less is more for the Defender. He and his team have really captured the iconic design of the old Defender and translated that into a modern interpretation of that classic form factor.

In terms of the new Defender's exterior design, Land Rover have done a fantastic job. The original's distinctively boxy and straightforward shape has been ingeniously modernised with rounded edges while retaining its classic legacy design characteristics. The exterior is still flat and the tail-lights are separated and totally vertical. The only difference is that the tail-lights now have crisp LED within and are more like three dimensional Lego blocks. We adore how the circular shape of the inner light is accentuated by the front LED daytime running lights' dark surrounds, which are reminiscent of the Defender's vintage circular headlamps.