The Land Rover's story started in Red Wharf Bay in 1947 when Maurice Wilks drew his first sketch in the sand with his brother. His car's story ends after 68 years with the Defender's finish this December, but before that, Land Rover is giving us 3 stunning cars with a wonderful farewell in the sand.
Let's start with the temporarily art piece, because making something like this with such iconic cars sounds like the best way to spend a sunny morning on the beach.
Land Rover went out to Anglesey with six vehicles, a Land Rover Series I, II and III, a Ninety, a Defender 90 Hard Top and a Defender 110 Station Wagon. The Series II once belonged to the Wilks family and cousins Stephen and Nick Wilks, the sons of Maurice and Spencer Wilks were also there to honor their father's achievement, who owned land on the Welsh island and started the project by being in need of a versatile vehicle that could do it all.
Directed by sand artist Jamie Wardley, the team had only about three hours to draw the continuous 4.52km (2.8 mile) line into the sand before it was all erased by the incoming tide.
Nice job, but to give us something a bit more durable, Land Rover also introduced the Defender Celebration Series with three new limited edition models celebrating a different element of the Defender's unique history.
Meet the Heritage, Adventure and Autobiography Editions, all powered by a trusty 2.2-litre diesel.
The two-tone Autobiography comes with a power upgrade from 122 to 150 hp and 295 foot pound of torque. Available only with the 90 Station Wagon body, it also has a full Windsor leather upholstery, Goodyear MT/R tires, white tail and indicator LED lamps, a shiny metal trim package and more serious underbody protection. It starts at £61,500 in the UK.
The Heritage Edition (I want one I want one I want one!) is much cheaper at £30,900. You can recognize it from having a Grasmere Green paintwork and a contrasting white roof with a classic grille, Almond Resolve cloth upholstery with Ebony Vinyl sides and backs, and HUE 166 graphics all over the place recalling the registration plate of the first ever pre-production Land Rover nicknamed 'Huey'.
Last but not least, the Adventure Edition might offer the be the best value of the trio. For £38,400, it comes fitted with additional underbody protection, Goodyear MT/R tires, aluminum and black detailing and a leather-trimmed cabin. You can crab one from August in Corris Grey, Yulong White or Phoenix Orange.
If you ask me, it's pretty badass.
Would you like to hear even more good news? Gladly at your service:
Land Rover is also investigating the possibility of maintaining production of the current Defender at an overseas production facility, after the close of UK manufacturing. Any continuation would see low volume production maintained for selected fleets and special vehicle applications for sale outside the EU.
Hooray!
Bonus behind the scenes images: