The new Defender proves how tough it is… but the Series II is still cooler

IN THE BAD OLD DAYS OF FORD-OWNED PREMIER AUTOMOTIVE Group product placement, the best a Land Rover (or, whisper it, a Ford Mondeo) could hope for was a fleeting cameo for comedy value. Yes, we’re looking at you, Casino Royale and the Range Rover Sport in ‘Carry On Up The Valet Parking’ japes. In 2020, we’re more alive and cynical to that kind of shameless promo, so if a new car wants to feature in a Bond movie, it has to earn its keep. Enter, stage right, the all-new Land Rover Defender. We’ll get our first proper look at this year’s most wanted new car getting mucky in

NTTD, and by the look of the sneaky peeks, the crew haven’t gone easy on the new Landie. Then again, getting it airborne and whamming its sump down on to a rutted track might very well have been part of Land Rover’s sign-off process. If the new Defender can survive a Bond chase, then it’ll most likely shrug off the worst speed bump impacts that Islington’s schoolrun set – who, incidentally, are 16 times more likely to have a shunt than a megalomaniac’s henchman – can throw at it. Bond himself clearly favours the hipster approach, as we see him enjoying his short-lived ‘retirement’ out in Jamaica behind the spindly wheel of a Series II Landie. Ironic, isn’t it? All the hoo-ha over product placement and Bond’s recent taste for a certain green-bottled beer, and yet Daniel Craig’s final outing appears to see him selecting more classic motors than brand spanking new ones.