You may have heard the news this week that the revered vehicle, Land Rover’s Defender has finally reached the end of the production line. On Friday, the last ever Land Rover Defender rolled off the line at Land Rover’s Solihull factory. It has been a motoring and design icon for almost 70 years…..

Of course, the famous vehicle, loved by royalty, farmers, the military and rural folk, has always been produced in the Midlands, but did you know that the Defender’s roots lie very much here in Wales? No, neither did we! Read on to find out more about the Land Rover Defender’s Welsh origins….

Maurice Wilks was Land Rover’s chief engineer (and by the time of his death in 1963, was the car giant’s chairman), and he had been greatly impressed with the work and functionality of the American Jeeps that he’d seen in action during the war. Maurice had a farm on Anglesey, and so he brought over a Jeep to help him with the farm work and he was inspired to create something similar for British land workers.

Legend has it that one day during a walk on nearby Red Wharf beach, Maurice sketched a simple design in the sand of how he saw his new utility vehicle. It was simplicity at it’s finest – two boxes and a wheel in each corner. We wonder if he knew then that his simple design would become a world icon?

The first classic Land Rover Defender (then named the Land Rover) prototypes were tested over the rough sand dunes of Red Wharf Bay and at Maurice’s farm nearby. The vehicle went into production in 1948, and became an instant hit. It was designed as a cross between a car and a tractor, for use on farms and in rural areas where access to hills, fields, mountains and forest were essential. Tough terrain proved no obstacle for the hardy Land Rover, and so the military soon picked up on the usefulness of this rugged vehicle.

Since then of course, there have been many variations of Maurice’s original design – the Freelander, the Discovery and the Range Rover. But, the original Land Rover’s design hadn’t changed much in almost 70 years, despite being intended only as a stop-gap for production after the war to boost the car company’s sales.

Sadly though, last week saw the end of the road for this iconic British car. The square angles of the Defender just don’t meet the increasingly strict EU crash safety regulations and emissions standards.

So it is with great sadness that many people, especially farm workers and people who live in rural areas, will wave goodbye to the legendary Land Rover Defender; it truly is the end of an era. And it wasn’t only farmers who enjoyed the practical Defender, but the Royal Family drove one too, as did many celebrities and of course who can forget Angelina Jolie’s character in Tomb Raider on the back of the famous Defender?

This iconic car will be greatly missed! But, it is also with great pride that the people of Wales know that it was their country and landscape that inspired the very beginning of a legend……

Image by Buckers on wikiimages