Land Rover Defender: the best 4x4xFar

The Land Rover Defender is one of the most iconic British cars of all time, and has been the ultimate go-anywhere vehicle for almost six decades.

As far as Stuart Milne is concerned it's useless at round-town running or motorway cruising. But that doesn't mean it doesn't have barrel loads of charm and charisma.

The Auto Trader garage has had an unusual addition this week. We're not averse to driving anything, and can usually get a good handle on cars quickly.

But the Land Rover Defender proved to be a serious curve ball – not least because many regard it to be a commercial vehicle.

It can't be judged against Landy's brilliant Discovery, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport – mainly because it's raw, noisy, slow and uncomfortable.

Better points to reference include the Jeep Wrangler and Daihatsu Terios.

And that's not because the cars are particularly alike – more they're built to be basic, utilitarian runarounds with the focus on one particular job.

Going off road.

Editor Higgins recently took a Landy on a punishing off-road course and declared it to be excellent – and I don't doubt it.

There's none of the clever computer whizz-bangery other Land Rovers are fitted with – just a proven four-wheel drive system and the understanding only an off-road expert will have.

If I went off road, another Defender would have to pull me out. I'd run out of talent long before the car would.

But it took a few hundred miles of urban crawling before I came to this conclusion. Up until then, my time with the Defender was hellish.

It's massive – dwarfing a BMW X5 I'd parked next to – and that usually means loads of interior space.

Not in this case. A massive transmission tunnel running along the middle of the car pushed the seats out to the sides of the car. I had to open the window to rest my elbow on the door in order to ease my aching shoulder on longer runs.

The heater has two temperatures: arctic or lava, it's noisy, unrefined and pitifully slow.

And when I encountered a bend on a local A-road, the soft suspension, high centre of gravity and an ill-timed crosswind, my life genuinely flashed before my eyes.

But despite all that, I have warmed to the old girl. She – and the Series I, II and III models which went before – are living legends, and other motorists know it.

Never before have I driven such an unlikely headturner. And there was a real sense of people's respect; which is unheard of for an 'evil Chelsea Tractor'.

And that's mainly because it isn't.

It’s the car of choice for the country set; not because of its imposing looks, but because it's unfazed by snow and ditches, and is capable of pulling not only horses out of mud, but the nag's stables as well.

Because it's so hard wearing, there's no shortage of used models. They're so basic; pretty much any damage can be fixed with a few choice hammer blows. Models from the 1980s can be had for a few hundred quid, rising to around £30,000 for a new range topper.

L.A.T.W.O.T. Video of the Week

The Camel Trophy is the last word in crazy off-road driving – check out this advert.