Words: Patrick
My mother is the most excitable Defender driver in the history of Land Rover. She can’t read a text message without holding her phone at an arm’s length, but she can hone into a fellow 4×4 owner 5 miles off, readying her thumbs up and preparing a mighty grin. And triple the excitement when it’s snowing, as while Pandas and Fiestas struggle to find grip, she sets out with a tow-rope to do her bit, knowing that this is when the Land Rover community become true heroes. They may be harming the atmosphere, and causing backlogs while towing horses from gymkhana to hunt meet, but come winter they are the automotive ambulance.
The romance and sensation of owning a Land Rover Defender never wears off – honestly, ask anyone you know who falls into this category and they’ll cement this point of view. Defenders are fantastic machines, and beautiful in their own right. Little wonder such a high percentage to have been made over the course of the past 67 years are still in operation. In fact, production has been so successful, and demand so high over this time, that Land Rover has just made its 2 millionth Defender. Two million, just wrap your head around that for a moment.
To celebrate this remarkable milestone the bespoke 2,000,000th Land Rover Defender will star in a public exhibition ahead of its charity auction at London’s Bonhams on the 16th December. Prospective bidders and the general public are invited to preview the vehicle throughout the specially curated exhibition, which celebrates almost 7 decades of Land Rover production at the Solihull manufacturing facility in the UK.
Interested visitors and bidders can drop into the exhibition at Bonhams on New Bond Street, London free of charge any time from 09:00hrs to 17:00hrs on Tuesday 15 December and from 09:00hrs on Wednesday 16 December, with the auction starting at 18:00hrs. Potential bidders must purchase an auction catalogue and register at Bonhams to be eligible to bid. All proceeds from the sale of the iconic Defender will be donated in their entirety to International Federation of Red Cross, Red Crescent Societies and Born Free Foundation.
And for the lucky buyer, be sure to watch out for a silver-haired woman in a mud-splattered green Defender when out and about. And please wave back – you’ll make her day.
See www.bonhams.com for more information.
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