LAND ROVER DEFENDER

When we named the Defender Car of the Year in December 2020, the protests – which oscillated between “How can you award something that will break down every five minutes?” to “They’ve totally cocked up the design” – were deafening. Now the kneejerks have died down... I’m sorry internet, we were right. There’s something so right about the way the Defender looks, operates and goes that fills you with confidence.

It’s not just the warm, fuzzy glow of heritage, the attention to detail is obvious. Our test car was a 3dr 90, D250 SE (£61,125 as tested) with the 246bhp straight-six diesel (our pick of the engines) with all the off-road goodies: raised air intake (£649), front underbody protection (£844), off-road tyres (£255), air suspension (£1,615), electronic active differential (£1,020) and folding fabric roof (£1,800). Alright, that last one isn’t strictly off-road necessary, but ideal for sticking your head out and yelling at whoever’s nearest when you’re stuck in rising water.

Where the Defender feels ahead of the pack is its electronics. The 360˚ cameras are magic, and can use the front feed to create an ‘invisible’ bonnet and project the exact position of your front wheels on the screen. The wade sensing mode shows how close you are to the maximum 900mm depth. The cleverest part is the Terrain Response system, which you can leave in Auto, select low-range, raise the air suspension for max clearance and pass over stuff that would skewer other members of this party. But not everyone wants the computers in control, so you can dive into the sub-menus and open/lock the diffs as required, y’know to make it feel like you’re contributing something, when in fact the car’s the star.