Revealed: the new-old Land Rover Defender V8 Trophy

This is the Land Rover Defender Works V8 Trophy, which is a long name for a car that celebrates a long history: a V8-powered off-roader built to celebrate the classic Camel Trophy Landies etched into the annals of car lore.

Only 25 of these V8 Trophy ‘cars’ are being built, each one taking the Works V8 Defender as its base. It is a good, if terrifying, base: JLR's 400bhp 5.0-litre V8 with 380lb ft of torque, matched up to an eight-speed auto. Everything is bunded inside the Defender’s ageing bones (your choice of 90 or 110 wheelbase bones).

Mercifully, the suspension and braking has been uprated – the latter featuring 335mm/300mm discs front and back with four-piston calipers – and you get ‘heavy duty’ front and rear diffs. Where the Trophy gains over a regular Works V8 is in the additional adventure kit. Stuff like a front winch, expedition cage, roof rack, underbody protection, a raised air-intake, LED spotlights and mud terrain tyres.

The ‘Eastnor Yellow’ paint job pays the biggest visual homage to those Camel Trophy Landies your parents told you about once, and there are full LED headlights, a ‘heritage’ grille, lots of Trophy badging, and 16in steel wheels. Leather adorns the interior, there’s a bespoke clock, and even Recaro sports seats. (Don’t forget, that powertrain can kick the Defender from 0-60mph in 5.6secs.)

Owners will be treated to a three-day adventure at Eastnor Castle later this year, Covid restrictions permitting. “The Land Rover Defender has always been more than just a vehicle,” explains Land Rover Classic director Dan Pink, “its engineering capability and suitability for overland expedition and all-terrain competition means it’s renowned with getting away from it all.

“The new Land Rover Trophy will bring this to life for a new generation of adventurers.”

A select generation of adventurers, mind. As we said, just 25 are being built, and prices start at £190,000 for a 90 model.

Click here for Top Gear's first drive of a 'regular' Land Rover Defender Works V8