The Crittenden Automotive Library

Land Rover Defender 90

Defender 90
Vehicle Model

Topic Navigation
Return to Land Rover Defender Wikipedia: Land Rover Defender Page Sections History Photographs Article Index

An SUV produced by Land Rover from 1989-2018. Originally produced for the 1983 model year and called the Land Rover Ninety, the name was changed to Defender 90 for 1991 to avoid confusion with the newly introduced Discovery. The 90 comes from the 90 inch wheelbase, the 110 inch wheel base variant was originally the Land Rover One-Ten or 110 and renamed the Defender 110 alongside the Defender 90.

History

The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Land Rover Defender page on 11 February 2018, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The Land Rover Defender (initially called the Land Rover Ninety and Land Rover One Ten) is a British four-wheel drive off-road vehicle developed in the 1980s from the original Land Rover Series which was launched in June 1948. After a continuous run of 67 years production finally ended on 29 January 2016 when the last Defender, H166 HUE, rolled off the production line at 09:22hrs GMT. A special edition Land Rover Defender Works, with 400bhp, was announced on January 2018.

The model was introduced in 1983 as "Land Rover One Ten", and in 1984 the "Land Rover Ninety" was added – the numbers representing the respective wheelbases in inches. (In fact the Ninety was nearer 93 inches at 92.9".) The number was spelled in full in advertising and in handbooks and manuals, and the vehicles also carried badges above the radiator grille which read "Land Rover 90" or "Land Rover 110", with the number rendered numerically. The Ninety and One Ten replaced the earlier Land Rover Series, and at the time of launch, the only other Land Rover model in production was the Range Rover.

In 1989, a third model was brought out by Land Rover to be produced in parallel with the other two: the Land Rover Discovery. To avoid possible confusion, the 1991 model year Ninety and the One Ten were renamed the "Defender 90" and "Defender 110". These carried front badges that said "Defender", with a badge on the rear of the vehicle saying "Defender 90" or "Defender 110". The most recent model, from 2007–2016, still featured the space above the radiator for the badge but was blank. Instead had "Land Rover" spelled across the leading edge of the bonnet in raised individual letters, in keeping with the Discovery and Freelander. At the rear was a new style of '"Defender" badge with an underlining "swoosh". On these last models there are no badges defining the wheelbase model of the vehicle.

The 127-inch (3,226 mm) wheelbase Land Rover 127, available from 1985, was always marketed with the name rendered numerically. Following the adoption of the Defender name, it became the "Defender 130", although the wheelbase remained unchanged.

The North American Specification (NAS) Defender 110 sold for the 1993 model year carried a badge above the radiator grille which read "Defender," whereas the NAS Defender 90 sold for the 1994 to 1997 model years had "Land Rover" spelled across the top of the radiator grille in individual letter decals. NAS Defenders also carried a cast plaque on the rear tub in the original style of the Series Station wagons with "Defender 110" or "Defender 90" below the Land Rover lozenge and the vehicle's unique limited edition production run number.

Photographs

	Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden View photo of Land Rover Defender 90 - 4.0MB
	Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden View photo of Land Rover Defender 90 - 4.0MB
	Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden View photo of Land Rover Defender 90 - 4.0MB

Article Index

Date	Article	Author/Source
18 August 2006	An Amphibian Vehicle	Carol Mitchel
31 October 2013	This Is The Land Rover Bowler Defender Challenge Car	Matt Hubbard, Speedmonkey

Land Rover Defender 90