The current shape and style of Land Rover Defender has been in production, according to official data, since 1990. It has changed and evolved with the times somewhat, but it’s still built the way it was some 25 years ago.
Now that it’s set to be taken out of production and replaced with a modern imitator, it’s nice to check out how it got put together, for posterity’s sake. The video posted below shows what the Solihull plant atmosphere is like – it’s been building the Defender since 1983, back when it was still called 90, 110 or 127 (depending on chassis length).
The factory also builds the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, the Land Rover Discovery and most recently the Jaguar XE.
However, it seems that the part where they assemble the Defender still looks pretty old school. They do use modern machines, welding tools and other bits of tech, but the assembly process is thoroughly a hands-on affair.