Land Rover Classic Defender Works V8 Islay Edition: only 30 units... and from 260,000 euros!

Antonio Roncero @roncero_antonio 3 May 2023 4 min.

Land Rover Classic presents the special Islay Edition of the Classic Defender with V8 engine, of which only 30 units will be built… with a starting price from 260,000 euros!

If I told you we were going to talk about a very special car, with a 405 hp naturally aspirated V8 engine and of which only 30 units will be built in a limited edition, with a price starting from £230,000 (around 260,000 euros) and very exclusive equipment, you’d probably think of a high-performance sports car or a luxury saloon. But if we start talking about full-time four-wheel drive and rigid axle suspension at both front and rear, the field narrows considerably.

But let’s stop the guessing games, because by now you will have seen the main image illustrating this article. And although the figures may not add up, I can assure you there is no misprint: we are indeed talking about a Land Rover Defender. But not one of the modern Defenders, which we have already seen can also reach stratospheric prices, such as the recent Land Rover Defender Outbound. In this case we are talking about the Classic Defender, the Land Rover of old. And although the price may seem outrageous, I’m sure the phone and email at Land Rover Classic have been very busy these days.

What does this Defender have to justify costing a quarter of a million euros?

The least important thing is what the Classic Defender Works V8 hides under its bonnet, although it cannot be denied that the 5-litre V8 provides more than plenty of thrust, with its 515 Nm of torque. In fact, it enables the Defender to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.6 seconds, with a top speed limited to 170 km/h. Let us recall that the history of V8 engines in the Defender dates back to the Series III of 1919, back then with 3.5 litres, carburettor fuelling and barely a hundred horsepower. But this new version is noteworthy because it becomes the first Defender with a V8 engine to be officially launched on the market, since the Defender 90 50th Anniversary of 1998, which had the 4-litre 190 CV engine of the second-generation Range Rover.

What makes this Classic Defender Works V8 Islay Edition unique is what it represents. And enthusiasts of the brand know very well what that means. We are looking at a model inspired by Spencer Wilks’ Series IIa from 1965, and it also pays tribute to the Scottish island of Islay. History has it that when the original Land Rover was designed, Wilks, one of the founders of the brand, tested the cars on his own land, at Laggan Estate, on the aforementioned Scottish island.

A unique and authentic Defender

To remain as faithful as possible to the model it is inspired by, the Classic Defender Works V8 Islay Edition wears the same body colour, Heritage Grey, with a matching Limestone roof. Not even the wheels are alloy; they are steel sheet in the same colour as the roof, as on the original. And as you can imagine, these are not new cars built from scratch: Land Rover Classic has taken on the task of recovering, renewing, redesigning and updating vehicles donated between 2012 and 2016, carrying out the transformation in a completely handcrafted way. Of the 30 units in the limited edition, 17 will correspond to the 90 short-wheelbase version, and 13 to the seven-seat 110 version.

In addition to fitting the V8 engine and coupling it to a ZF eight-speed gearbox, the rebuilding of these models includes a suspension upgrade kit with coil springs and specific dampers, and a reinforced braking system. From here on, every detail of this limited series is unique… and authentic. That said, there are some concessions to technical innovation, such as LED headlights, GPS navigation and Bluetooth.

To cite a few examples, on the side of the bodywork there is a graphic representing the registration plate of Wilks’ Land Rover Series IIa: GXC 639C. And inside we find elements that link the model to the brand’s origins: Windsor Ebony leather on the seats, doors, roof and dashboard; or the plaque telling the story of the brand’s birth, as well as the legacy Land Rover logo embossed on the steering wheel and on the seat headrests. The connection with the island of Islay continues with the tweed fabric made from Islay Woollen Mill wool in colours evoking the local landscapes. And the oak wood used for some interior decorative elements comes from whisky barrels from the Kilchoman distillery, of course on Islay.

Is that enough to justify a price of £230,000 for the 90 version, and £245,000 (278,000 euros) for the 110? As is often said in these cases, exclusivity has no price…