The car will be limited to just 30 examples
Land Rover’s Classic Works division has revealed its latest vehicle, called the Defender Works V8 Islay Edition.
The first of what could be several Heritage Special Edition versions of the classic Defender, the Islay Edition gets its name from the Scottish island of Islay, where the Land Rover name was born.
Islay is also where Spencer Wilks, then managing director of the Rover Car Company, tested early prototypes of the original Land Rover on his family’s Laggan Estate. When driving an early prototype in 1947, the estate’s gatekeeper Ian Duncan reportedly said how the then-unnamed car must be a “Land Rover”, due to where it was being driven.
The interior features a unique tweed upholstery
As well as its name, the new car is inspired by Wilks’ own 1965 Series IIa Land Rover, thanks to its Heritage Grey paintwork, Limestone roof color and matching heavy-duty steel wheels.
The car is powered by a 5.0-liter V8 engine producing 405 horsepower and 515 Nm of torque This is connected to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission and the car has a claimed 0-60 mph time of 5.6 seconds, while the top speed is 106 mph.
Since this generation of Defender is no longer in production, Land Rover sources doner cars to be turned into Defender Works examples. These are reengineered with a unique suspension setup tuned for “enhanced on-road comfort and dynamics,” Land Rover says, with revised coil spring rate and dampers. The car also features improved brake discs, pads and calipers.
The car is powered by a V8 engine with just over 400 horsepower
Inside, the car features a specially designed central cubby with a removable wooden tray made from walnut and whisky cask barrel oak from Islay’s Kilchoman distillery. The interior is also treated to leather seats with unique tweed detailing from Islay Woollen Mill, and there’s a classically-designed infotainment system with DAB radio and Bluetooth. The trunk floor features an oak wood veneer made to the same standard as that of the current-generation Range Rover.
The footwells are carpeted – unusual for a Defender – and tweed is also found on the shoulder area of the seats, sections of the door cards, the lid of the central armrest and on the sun visors. The colors of the tweed are said to mirror Islay, including blue for the sea and sky, purple for the local heather and yellow for the peaty grassy landscape.
Every example comes with a commemorative wooden tray in partnership with Islay's Kilchoman ... [+]
Land Rover plans to build just 30 examples of the Islay Edition, split between the £230,000 ($287,000) short-wheelbase 90 and £245,000 ($306,000) long-wheelbase 110. Each will be delivered with a bottle of limited-edition ‘639’ whisky, produced by Kilchoman Distillery, which was established by Kathy Wills, granddaughter of Spencer Wilks.
