Will the new-age Land Rover Defender ever reach similarly legendary status to the classic Land Rover? It’s unlikely, if only because there are considerably fewer uncharted territories left to be heroically charted than when the original was launched in the middle of the last century.
In all likelihood, JLR is quite happy to settle for the Defender being a commercial success, which it undoubtedly is. It has been around, incredibly, for six years now, with no facelift or new generation in sight, but its popularity shows no signs of abating. In that respect, the Defender is surely following in the tyre tracks of the Series Landie.
Still, some carefully considered model-year updates and a special-edition sticker pack won’t hurt to keep the sales fires lit, and that’s what we have here.
For 2026, the Defender has been treated to some new headlights (a real spot-the-difference exercise), a redesigned centre console (same), a bigger touchscreen, a couple of new paint colours (Woolstone Green and Borasco Grey) and a new off-road cruise control system.
This year also marks the 45th anniversary of the Camel Trophy, an annual competition in which a bunch of hopefuls would go on a well-publicised expedition to an exotic place in some pale-yellow Land Rovers. Because promoting cigarettes is frowned on today, this special edition is called simply the Trophy Edition.
It’s a little frivolous, because as well as the Sandglow Yellow paint you get upgraded leather seats and 20in steel wheels. You can also have it in Keswick Green, because Cumbria is famously overrun with green ungulates…
If you want the off-road paraphernalia of our test car, like the ladder, roof rack, snorkel and mudflaps, you need to add the £4995 Trophy Pack, and the matt protective film for the paint is a further £4500.
There are various further off-road packs with improved differentials and off-road programmes that also aren’t standard. Leather seats are nice and all, but are they really what you need for crossing the Sahara?
The Trophy Edition, which is tied to the 110 bodystyle, starts at £82,990 as a 2.0-litre plug-in hybrid or £84,815 for a 3.0-litre diesel, but the array of options on our D350 test car took it to £98,385.
Anyway, kitted out just right, it does look the business, and when you venture off the Tarmac, it means business too.
The Defender has already proven its off-road dominance in previous tests, and apart from being a bit big, the Trophy Edition made light work of the green-laning I threw at it. A Defender just makes traversing challenging terrain incredibly easy with its various modes that automatically sort out the differentials and traction control.
