Swan song of the iconic Land Rover Defender

The rugged off-road vehicle Land Rover Defender is winding down its chequered run stretched over close to seven decades. The preferred vehicle of military and governments around the globe, the Land Rover Defender, has been to places where few of its peers could have dared to go.

Though certainly not the last word in comfort and sophistication, the Land Rover Defender amply made up for the deficits in reliability and toughness – the two qualities that had endeared it to nobles and poor farmers alike.

Queen Elizabeth had been photographed driving a Defender on many occasions and  Oprah Winfrey owned one, too.

Also, twice during his presidency, President Lungu of Zambia had ridden in an open-topped Defender belonging to the military during ceremonies.

The Defender was also the vehicle of choice for the Zambia Army, police and government departments.

The much-acclaimed vehicle celebrated 68 years of its history last week as the last of the current Defenders rolled out of its famous Solihull facility.

To mark the occasion, Land Rover announced a new Heritage Restoration Programme, which would be based on the site of the existing Solihull production line. A team of experts, including a number of long-serving Defender employees, would oversee the restoration of a number of Series Land Rovers sourced from across the globe. The first vehicles would be put up for sale in July 2016.

Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, said: ''Today we celebrate what generations of men and women have done since the outline for the Land Rover was originally drawn in the sand. The Series Land Rover, now Defender, is the origin of our legendary capability, a vehicle that makes the world a better place, often in some of the most extreme circumstances. There will always be a special place in our hearts for Defender, among all our employees, but this is not the end. We have a glorious past to champion, and a wonderful future to look forward to.''