THE Defenderit mythical name, for the model that stood at the origins of the Land Rover brand. Before changing the name to Defender, this 4X4 and pure franchisor was simply called Land Rover. When the brand was so small that it only had one model! Appeared in 1948, the Earth was as much a recreational machine as it was a utility one. The technical conditions for its development in 1947 had already set the tone.

” Agricultural machinery be both a tractor and a van, offer power take-offs for all types of machines and develop speeds similar to those of a normal car.” The Land Rover saga was born! It was available in variants: short pickup, long station wagon, short panel, long tarpaulin many bodies For all tastes!

The model is taken as an example by other manufacturers

Such was his success and his aura several competing manufacturers wanted to imitate this mythical car! In the house of Austinnational competition of all time, an interesting reinterpretation was proposed in 1958 Gypsy, visually very close to his patriot in Rover! In the rest of Europe, Fiat developed its Campagnola in 1954later, the Austrian Puch became famous Pinzhauer !

Renault undertook to equip it in France wagon/utility Colorale 4×4 drive. More effective for dirt roads than a true cross-country escapade… The Japanese developed their large passable 4X4s around the same time. Nissan Patrol, Toyota Land Cruiser especially. For those who want a real Defender but can afford a Toyota, there is an alternative…

Toyota Fender

TFender! T is for Toyota, Fender is for Defender, of course. This funny car was born from the merger of two existing models. THE Toyota Proboxa large all-purpose station wagon sold in Japan since 2002. And our modern generation European Defender. It’s not a merger per se, but rather Probox layout in Defender ! The Japanese body manufacturer ESB Style is the basis.

He has increased the ground clearance of the Probox 40 mm. On a stylistic level, its taillights have been changed, as have the projectors, which now resemble those of the Defender. Its front bumper was changed to give it a Defender look, while the hood now features the ‘TFender’ lettering. This transformation overlaps close to 2400 euros, you still need to find Probox! This is a model widespread in Russia, where it is imported from Japan. There are also several copies available used in UK ! Alone again unknown Toyota modelfor a very interesting transformation!