Like the Royals, I love my terrible, creaky, uncomfortable Land Rover Defender

Yesterday I watched as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited NHS staff in a magnificent green Series 2a Land Rover that had belonged to his late grandfather, Prince Philip, who recently passed away. The car was the real star, shining like a beacon of nostalgia, thanks to its great engineering, history, Britishness.

Prince Philip was carried to his final resting place on the back of a Land Rover Defender just a few weeks ago. If, like me, you are a Land Rover Series and Defender fan, you will have been moved to tears by the sight and sound of the sombre progress of the Defender before his coffin was carried from her bespoke deck; the square-set looks and the sound of her engine ticking over instantly recognisable and identifiable as uniquely Land Rover.

That’s the thing about the Defender. She is instantly identifiable from the tiniest of perspective. A wing mirror, her grille, the lights, her rear, her lines, the sound of her engine. Show me a Defender from 500 metres and I’ll know it’s her. A quick history lesson in the vehicle itself. Designed in 1948, the first Land Rover was called a Series 1. It was followed by the Series 2 and 3 before it was renamed the Land Rover 90 and 110 before it became the Defender, the name by which many refer to all the “boxy” Land Rover models that are closely related to the original.

The last of the Defenders rolled off the production line at Solihull in 2016 before Land Rover unveiled its all-new - and very different technologically - Defender in 2020 to mixed reaction from enthusiasts. That’s because while the new Defender filled the void in the Land Rover portfolio of mainly luxury cars, it also failed to capture the essence of what the Defender, 90/110 and Series models had; their unique character and personality.

On the face of it the Defender (I use the term to refer to all the “boxy” vehicles, including the Series 1-3 Land Rovers, up to 2016) is a terrible car. It is noisy, leaky, creaky and uncomfortable - but that is also her attraction. In an age of homogeneous reliability, the Land Rover has character and personality.

Unlike modern cars the Defender was never bound by conformity but was always very honest. Diligent and unwavering. Unlike other vehicles, every Land Rover is unique and individual. No two cars are the same. It’s that force of personality that has led to a whole industry for personalising the Defender, making bodywork, interior fittings and, more often than not, improving the sluggish performance immeasurably. Go to a Land Rover show and no two vehicles are alike.

But the real genius is that no other car has ever mastered the art of being everything and nothing. It is at once a bold statement but also saying nothing. Classless but classy. Used by farmers, soldiers, peacekeepers, royalty, gangsters (the Great Train robbers used them), dictators, (Idi Amin), revolutionaries (Che Guevara) and celebrities (David Beckham, Bob Marley and Steve McQueen). It suits Idris Elba and Fred Dibnah. The Land Rover Defender (in all her forms) has been used in countless advertising campaigns and retains an ageless quality that is almost impossible to find anywhere else.

The royal Land Rover lineage has a long pedigree. Indeed, the Royal Yacht Britannia carried a blue convertible Land Rover Series 1 for use on overseas visits. For the Duke of Edinburgh, the Land Rover Series and Defender was his primary mode of transport during hundreds of tours.

The Queen still drives one around her estates. She once terrified the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia by taking the wheel of a Defender to drive the heir to a nation that at the time banned women drivers. And now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are carrying on the royal family love affair with the Land Rover. They have access to almost any vehicle, not to mention their fleet of luxurious Range Rovers and yet they chose the Series 2 to go to the cinema. It was classy and symbolic.

I share their love affair. I have owned two Series 1s and have driven a Defender since 1999. I am currently trying to modify it to electric to bring it bang up to date. I love them so much that I wrote a book about them. It will come as no surprise that of the 15 books I have written, my Land Rover Defender book outsold them all.

The Defender has been around since 1948 and it’s estimated that 70 per cent of them are STILL on the road Understated, reserved and elegant, it is a car that has the power to transport the driver and passenger to another place. In a world of high tech sophistication the Land Rover offers a refuge of simplicity where windows are still manually wound down and flaps are opened for air-conditioning. There is a charm and nostalgia that is almost impossible to replicate.

While Land Rover continues to expand its portfolio of vehicles, the reality is that it is impossible to replace the original Defender, a vehicle woven into the fabric of our national consciousness. A car loaded with charm and simplicity that takes us all to another time.

Read more: Prince Philip's love for Land Rovers endured for more than 70 years