Phillip Herbert, Clerk of the Course for the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (seen here at Rockingham Castle) and his trusty Defender
You see them everywhere on cross country courses around the world and hopefully we will continue to see them for some time to come but the last of the iconic Land Rover Defenders will roll off the production line in January 2016
In December a one-of-a-kind Land Rover Defender sold for a record £400,000 at a prestigious charity auction, with all proceeds are being donated to Land Rover's humanitarian and conservation partners; the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), who will use the donation to help communities in South-East Nepal to improve how they tackle natural disasters, and the Born Free Foundation who plan to use the funds to support the 'Project Lion Rover' wildlife conservation initiative in Meru National Park, Kenya
The unique vehicle, the two-millionth of the iconic Series Land Rover and Defender models manufactured at Land Rover's Solihull plant since 1948, was sold to a bidder from Qatar. The vehicle, built as part of a year of celebrations for the much loved 4x4 which will cease manufacturing in Solihull in January 2016, boasted a host of distinctive and bespoke finishing features including an engraved map of Red Wharf Bay - where the design for the original Land Rover was first drawn in the sand, and a unique 'no 2,000,000' badge.
Inside, the leather seats also featured the 'Red Wharf Bay' graphic and 'no 2,000,000' logos were been stitched on the headrests. A bespoke aluminium plaque, signed by everyone who helped to assemble the vehicle was fitted to the driver's seat. Special S90 HUE registration plates provided a fitting tribute to the first ever pre-production Land Rover, registration 'HUE 166'.
And of course, those fabulous people from Land Rover, also huge sponsors of eventing through their support of the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials had something a little special up their sleeve as the special car made its way to Bonhams for auction on the 16th December
