Classic Land Rover Defender Works V8 Islay Edition by Land Rover Classic costs from £230k

Land Rover Classic reveals the Defender Works V8 Islay Edition inspired by a Spencer Wilks Defender and costing from £230,000.

Five years ago, to celebrate Land Rover’s 70th Birthday, Land Rover treated classic Defender enthusiasts – well, those with deep pockets – to the Land Rover Defender Works V8, a limited run of 150 suitably titivated and powered V8s each costing from £150,000.

Now, as this is Land Rover’s 75th year, Classic Land Rover Defender lovers – again, those with deep pockets – are being offered a new creation from Land Rover Classic – the Classic Land Rover Defender Works V8 Islay Edition – and this one is limited to a run of 30 hard top 90s and 110s costing from £230,000 and based on a restored Defender from the 2012-2016 era.  

The Islay Edition is inspired by Spencer Wilks’ 1965 Defender, and named after his Laggan Estate on the Isle of Islay in the Hebrides and is finished in Heritage Grey paint with Limestone roof and steel wheels to match Wilks’ 1965 Series IIA, with an interior heavy on tweed from the Islay Woollen Mill and with a walnut tray with a whisky cask from Islay’s Kilchoman Distillery.

Instead of the four-pot petrol from Wilks’ car, the Islay Edition has a 5.0-litre V8 with 400bhp and eight-seed ZF ‘box, modern suspension and brakes, LED lights, Sat Nav, DAB and Bluetooth.

There are 17 Defender 90 versions available from £230,000 and 13 seven-seat Defender 110s from £245,000.