Our Pick of 5 Iconic Land Rover Models

Currently, Land Rover sells three portfolio lines. The Range Rover line includes the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Velar, and Range Rover Evoque. Then there is the Discovery line with the Land Rover Discovery and Land Rover Discovery Sport on offer, and finally, there is the Defender line with the Land Rover Defender 110, Land Rover Defender Octa, and Land Rover Defender 90 on the cards. It's not the easiest to pick just five iconic creations from the brand; therefore, we start from the very beginning.

Back in 1948 at the Amsterdam Motor Show, Britain revealed its answer to the very American Jeep that had just won the war for the Allies, just three years before. From that day on, the Land Rover became the symbol of the quintessential go-anywhere 4WD-equipped vehicle. This was in spite of the fact that some of the underpinnings, including the chassis, had actually come from a Jeep. So, if you really dug deep, you’d find some similarities. But on the surface, the two were as chalk and cheese.

Designer Maurice Wilks set the template for the iconic and instantly recognisable design with twin headlamps recessed between fat slab-like fenders, the split windscreen, low doors, a spartan cabin, and a canvas roof. The spare wheel on the bonnet would only come around in the later Series II. Today, around 78 years after it launched, the Land Rover Series I remains an icon of British automotive engineering.

The Range Rover marked Land Rover’s journey into the world of premium motoring. For all its legendary status, the Land Rover, even the Queen’s Landie, was a rugged and roughshod thing. Not quite for the man in a double-breasted suit and a tie headed for a boardroom war on a Monday.

So, if the Series I, II, and III were for the farmhands, the Range Rover, when it was launched, was aimed at the shareholders and board members of companies. They loved their comfort but had a taste for the countryside.

So out went the bumpy leaf spring suspension and in came independent coil springs for a comfortable ride across the meadows, and no more fiddling about with levers to engage 4WD either. This had permanent four-wheel-drive, which meant you could go anywhere without having to give your arms a workout. It had proper seats with adjustable seat backs for the driver, all of which were made from premium fabric and had proper cushioning. It had a solid roof, and it had seatbelts. It had an air-conditioner with a heater included. Back in 1970. But most of all, it had a shape that was to become such a legend that even today, more than 50 years since it was first launched, a modern Range Rover’s lineage is instantly visible.

Launched in the late 1990s, the Freelander was Land Rover’s response to a world where customers were increasingly choosing SUVs. SUVs that looked butch and macho but were more car-like in behaviour than the rugged 4x4s (including the Range Rover) that the British brand had always built. This had many Land Rover firsts, beginning with its very construction. After nearly half a century of manufacturing vehicles with the bodies on ladder frames, the Freelander was the first ever Landie to feature a monocoque build. In its second-generation avatar, the Freelander also became the first- ever Land Rover vehicle to be offered without 4WD as an option.

The Freelander 2 was also significant to Land Rover’s India story since it became the first Land Rover to be assembled in this country in 2011, following the brand’s acquisition by Tata Motors some years prior. While the vehicle was available in both three and five-door formats, the Freelander, like the other two here, has an iconic silhouette as well. In fact, one of the most recognisable SUV silhouettes of the late ‘90s and early 2000s.

The current Defender on sale in India, which starts at Rs 1.03 crore for the Defender 110 and goes up to Rs 1.43 crore for the Defender 90, is actually a brand new generation of the iconic SUV and was launched in 2024. It also shares a film connection and was used extensively for stunts in the Daniel Craig starrer ‘No Time to Die’ of the James Bond franchise. The Defender that made the name an icon, however, was a direct descendant of the Land Rover Series from 1948. Its boxy proportions, the slab-sided fenders that also incorporated the headlamps, were all an ode to the original.

Where it differed starkly was in its offer of creature comforts, even though the cabin might have come across as somewhat cramped. Introduced in 1990, the Defender went through several upgrades in its lifetime and even served in the British Armed Forces, much like its ancestor. The Defender is what essentially helped the old Land Rover Series owners to come of age, with its offer of independent coil springs, permanent 4WD, proper seats, and dollops of style. The shape was old, but its cool quotient? Well, that’s still trending.

Today, you could get yourself a lovely plush Discovery at Rs 1.26 crore, or you could get the more compact Discovery Sport at around Rs 63.37 lakh, from any Land Rover showroom in India. And by having either in your garage, you would have bought your way into a legacy that goes back to the 1989 Frankfurt Motor Show.

With its flat surfaces, rectangular lamps, orange indicators, and large glass areas around the cabin, the Series 1 Land Rover Discovery cut a handsome figure in Europe of the 1990s. Sitting between the rugged Land Rover Series and the premium Range Rovers, the Discovery was the upmarket option for those who wanted a bit of both. Its cabin was quite the revelation at the time, with innovative features like magazine holders on the windscreen, handholds for the rear occupants integrated into the headrests of the front seats, remote controls for the radio and even a fabric holdall in the front centre console that could be used as a bag with shoulder straps. The one on sale now is the fifth generation of this vehicle.