Land Rover is reportedly developing a range-topping V8 variant of the new Defender as a rival to higher-priced versions of the Mercedes G-Class.

British car magazine Autocar spotted an undisguised Defender test car sporting quad exhausts, a feature reserved only for JLR’s V8-engined models. Running the test car’s license plate on UK’s registration database reveals that the car in question is using a 5.0-liter petrol engine, pointing out to the company’s supercharged V8 unit.

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That’s interesting because the ‘AJ’ supercharged V8 unit will go out of production later this year as Ford’s Bridgend engine factory is shutting down. Jaguar Land Rover has already signed a powertrain deal with BMW, allowing them to make use of their turbocharged 4.4-liter V8 engines in future models.

The British publication speculates that Land Rover has been stockpiling the Ford-built V8 in order to use it in the range-topping Defender, which will be marketed as a low-volume special rather than a regular series-production model.

Currently, the new Defender offers four- and six-cylinder engines

Inside sources also say that the company’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) department isn’t involved with the development of the Defender V8, with the project being run from the model’s original engineers.

That could mean that the V8 variant of the Land Rover Defender won’t offer as much power as the rest of the SVO-developed models like the 567 HP Range Rover Sport SVR. Instead the engine is said to be tuned for an output of around 500 HP. Jaguar Land Rover has already launched in Europe a detuned version of the 5.0-liter V8 in the facelifted F-Type with 444 HP, so the same could apply for the Defender.

The current range-topping Land Rover Defender is powered by a 3.0-liter straight-six mild-hybrid powertrain with 394 HP (400 PS) and 406 lb-ft (550 Nm) of torque. Introducing a more powerful V8 model could also mean that the reports for a six-figure luxury flagship Defender were true.

The new Land Rover Defender V8 is expected to make its debut in late 2021, as the British carmaker is prioritizing the launch of its new electrified models.