70th anniversary Defender is the most powerful ever

Land Rover is retrofitting up to 150 of its iconic Defenders with 5.0-litre V8 engines to help celebrate the nameplate’s 70th anniversary.

The Defender Works V8 will be the fastest and most powerful version of the truck Land Rover has ever created, with a zero-to-100 km/h time of 5.6 seconds and a top speed of 170 km/h, courtesy a V8 cranking out 400 horsepower and 380 pound-feet of torque.

Land Rover’s Classic division has selected 150 Defenders to get the upgrade, which also includes a switch to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission, performance-grade brakes and handling updates, and 18-inch diamond-turned Sawtooth alloy wheels.

Trim gets a machined aluminum finish, headlamps get fitted with LEDs, and eight body colours (including two satin finishes) will be available. Inside, Windsor leather covers nearly everything, including the Recaro sports seats but excluding the Land Rover Classic Infotainment System.

Both short- and long-wheelbase (90 and 110) versions of Defender Works V8s will be available, and will be priced starting at just over $260,000.

The last production Defender rolled off the assembly line in January 2016 after the company admitted it was too expensive to update the seven-decades-old chassis to meet modern safety and emissions standards. A replacement is on the way.