Remember the Camel Trophy? Of course you do. We talk about it way too often around here. Land Rover remembers it too as it was a glorious period in history when Defenders and Range Rovers competed in some of the most grueling off-road racing conditions the world has to offer. That livery on a Land Rover vehicle is iconic… even if it is something that can’t be fully replicated today, at the factory level at least. But Land Rover has cooked up something close and is even going in on a proper adventure competition to go along with it. This is the 2022 Land Rover Defender Trophy Edition, and it’s heritage appeal done right.

The color is not quite the same. But we imagine that’s to keep things at arm’s length with respect to the original color scheme of the Camel Trophy paint. Still, you get what’s happening here. And it makes sense as there’s always a touch of nostalgia to be felt with even the most modern Land Rover (and Jaguar products). So slapping an inspired paint scheme on the new Defender works, but thankfully it’s not just paint.

Land Rover starts with the Defender 110 P400 X-Dynamic SE. That model retails with an MSRP of $68,000 to start before you start piling on options. With the Land Rover Trophy, the automaker goes ahead and piles on some options for you. There’s the blacked-out exterior, a tow hitch receiver, the Air Suspension Cold Climate Pack, Off-Road Pack, and Advanced Off-Road Capability Pack. That last one sounds dumb to have to apply to a vehicle like the Defender, but here we are.

There are other goodies too, like the roof rack, mud flaps, an integrated air compressor, and a nose setup to receive a winch. Land Rover uses Goodyear Wrangler all-terrain tires here, which are …fine. But I’d love to see a more aggressive set of rubber on this special model. Especially for the $90,000 price tag. But the Wranglers are probably easier to live with on-road on a daily basis but only just. I’ve lived with a set of KO2s for sometime now, and I love them.

Beyond the vehicle, of which Land Rover is building 220 for the U.S. market, the owners are granted entry for two people into a one-day adventure competition. There will be six waves of 15 teams (up to 90 teams total) competing on a first-come-first-served basis. This event will unfold at Asheville, North Carolina’s Biltmore Estate starting on October 11th, 2021. There will be both on and off-road challenges as well as some physical obstacles to overcome.

The winning team from that event will then have another competition to face down. Land Rover will hold a Trophy Competition adventure event at Eastnor Castle in the United Kingdom. We don’t have more details on what that entails just that Land Rover will have it take place in early 2022. Either way, we’re excited to see Defender owners putting their rigs to the test.

Now just make those diamond plate pieces on the hood actual load-bearing bits and not plastic, and we’re doing great. Regardless, this special edition is one we are excited to see.