Land Rover Reintroduces Defender With 400bhp N/A V8 And Huge Price Tag

Almost two years on from the final Land Rover Defender rolling off the production line, a replacement is still conspicuously absent. But that’d fine, as Land Rover has, umm, re-introduced the old one. Sounds odd, but stick with us, as on paper, it looks like a belter.

It’s called the Works V8, of which 150 will be made. And the name gives a big clue as to what it’s about: the thumping V8 engine under the bonnet.

Yep, a 5.0-litre, naturally aspirated V8 producing 399bhp (let’s just round it up to a nice, even 400bhp shall we?) and 380lb ft of torque, fed through an eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox. The atmospheric eight-banger will whisk the 90 Station Wagon version from 0-60mph in 5.6 seconds, on to an electronically-limited top speed of 106mph. A slightly slower 110-wheelbase Works V8 will be available too.

The brakes have - thankfully - been upgraded, and it’s been given a ‘handling kit’ with uprated springs, dampers and anti-roll bars.

Eight different colours are available, each with a ‘Santorini Black’ roof, arches and grille for some tasty contrast. The door handles, fuel cap and Defender bonnet lettering are all machined aluminium parts, and the whole shebang is finished off with 18-inch diamond-cut ‘Sawtooth’ wheels wrapped in chunky all-terrain tyres.

The inside has had a good fettle too, including some leather work for the dash, door cards, headlining and the new Recaro seats. Rather than stick in a modern-look infotainment system, Land Rover Classic has fitted its ‘Classic Infotainment System’ that blends in very nicely.

The cost of all this? There’s no easy way to say this: prices start at £150,000. Even for a heroic V8 anachronism in our increasingly electrified motoring landscape, that’s hilariously steep, but we wouldn’t bet against Land Rover Classic shifting each and every one very quickly indeed.