A-List Owners Show Off Land Rovers’ Real Star Quality
It’s incredible to think that at the end of this month (January), it will be four years since the curtain came down on 67 years of production of the Land Rover Defender at the factory in Solihull.
A casualty of tighter restrictions on emissions, the Defender had nevertheless cemented a place in motoring history, and been blessed with a long list of famous owners, who were often only too happy to be photographed with their faithful all-terrain companions.
Take a look at our gallery of the great and the good, all of whom have been won over by the rough-and-ready charms of this British-designed classic.
David Beckham
We all know Becks absolutely loves his motors. And any motor-maker would leap at the chance of getting an endorsement from one half of the ultimate celebrity power-couple.
But while he has a penchant for a supercar or two, as a family man the much-travelled former footballer also knows the virtues of driving something much more utilitarian.
In fact, such is the Beckhams’ love for these iconic cars that, in 2014, Victoria Beckham endorsed a special edition of the Range Rover Evoque.
David is often seen driving his Defender around central London, although he might want to forget an outing in December 2019. After visiting the gym he owns, Becks was pictured returning to the car, to find a parking ticket slapped on the windscreen.
Daniel Craig
The current James Bond is another who can take his pick of fast, flash motors, but has an eye for something more utilitarian.
After being hired to promote the new Range Rover Sport in 2013, he’s had the chance to explore the capabilities of its longer-standing cousin, as it features heavily in the soon-to-be-released Bond film, No Time To Die – the 25th in the long-running action spy franchise.
The film will be Craig’s last appearance as 007, after 14 years in the role.
David Dimbleby
In the early 2000s, the veteran broadcaster fronted three TV series for the BBC which involved him touring Britain in a Land Rover. A Picture Of Britain, How We Built Britain and Seven Ages Of Britain all prominently featured him driving the utility vehicle.
The presenter, who comes from a prominent family of British TV luminaries, also spent nearly five decades fronting the BBC’s coverage of General Elections, and was host of flagship politics discussion programme Question Time for more than a decade and a half.
Away from work, he lives on a farm in Sussex, where the capabilities of Land Rovers are no doubt explored daily to do just the kind of work for which they were originally intended.
Andy McNab
When it came to finding someone appropriate to reflect on the history of the Land Rover as the last model rolled off the production line at the Solihull factory in 2016, former SAS soldier turned author Andy McNab was probably the natural choice.
Land Rovers have played – and still do play - an important role in the work of the armed forces, and McNab was one of the final customers for the vehicle when he learned that production was ending.
“I love them. I learned to drive in one. They've always been there because it's been the main vehicle for the military since about the Fifties," he said.
Mariella Frostrup
On a more controversial note, long-standing TV presenter and journalist Frostrup hit the news last year, when she took Land Rover to task, claiming a new TV advert suggested it just wanted men to buy its cars.
Her Twitter outburst came after the company unveiled a new TV advert featuring a male explorer who apparently undertakes a 4,000-mile journey through all terrain to get home on time after receiving a message from his wife.
Ms Frostrup quickly retorted: “Shame Landrover … maybe you just want men to buy your cars? Best I sell my Defender and get a new car from a company who appreciates female drivers”.
HM Queen Elizabeth II
No run-down of faithful Landy owners would be complete without mention of our longest-reigning monarch.
She has been snapped numerous times pootling around her estates at Sandringham and Balmoral at the wheel of one of her fleet.
One of Her Majesty’s old Land Rovers was sold at auction for £12,000 in 2004, and it was revealed at the time that, for its previous Royal role, the car was a modified high-roof model. The extra room was put to good use in carrying back deer which had been killed on hunts.
Having earlier been confined to her Balmoral estate in north-east Scotland, it had been snapped up by a Scottish enthusiast, who only sold it on because he was finding it a little expensive on fuel.
Finally, we should give an honourable mention to Zara Tindall. As a keen equestrian – so being in need of a vehicle which can comfortably tow a horsebox from time to time - Princess Anne’s daughter is known to be a big Landy aficionado.
But the Royal is currently spending time out of the driver’s seat, having been handed a six-month driving ban after a speeding offence led to her hitting the 12 penalty points which mean she’s automatically banned from the road.
At least it will give her the chance to appreciate the joys of pottering around the countryside (and maybe even off-roading) from the different viewpoint of the passenger seat…
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