Our own Kamil has oftentimes mentioned how he’d really like a sturdy Land Rover Defender for himself, so when I happened upon this green example on a Helsinki side street, I really had to document it for him.
Most of the Defenders or older Land Rovers you see here are the short wheelbase 90:s or long wheelbase 110:s, so seeing a Defender with a truck bed and a tarp was quite refreshing. And this one is even quite new, as it’s registered in 2005.
It’s in surprisingly nice shape for a truck that’s clearly gotten for hauling. It’s a work vehicle, and nothing to be cherished, but I didn’t see any noticeable dents except for the front plate. And it was just dirty, nothing else: the green paint was still shiny.
The engine here is the 2.5 turbodiesel five, with 120 hp. I’ve driven a 110 wagon with that engine, and I didn’t really like how every gearchange dropped the engine way off the turbo boil, kicking any acceleration attempt in the vegetables.
But for semi-relaxed transport duties, the truck and the engine are a reasonable pair. And I do think this will be doing service for decades still. From this photo, you can somewhat see the 2000s interior, which is still some way from being modern.
Note the unripped tarp, note the intact taillights. Someone does care about how his work truck looks.
[Images: Copyright 2013 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen]
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