6 December 2023
Super-sized, supercharged, super-silly; largest Defender gets a dazzling 493bhp V8 which works shockingly well
Approaching three years into the life cycle of the ‘new’ Land Rover Defender, the model range has expanded a little. As has the car.The Land Rover Defender 130 is the extra-long version of the off-roader-cum-SUV. Decades ago, back in simpler and more innocent times for Land Rover’s promotional strategy, it would have been the one that looked most at home in safari-style brochure pictures, with a cut-down roof, tourists standing in the back and some big game wandering past in the distance.Nowadays, however, the 130 is the only Defender to offer more than six seats: two up front and three in both the second and third rows (unless you plump for the five-seat Outbound variant and its van-sized rear cargo bay). It’s not available with Land Rover’s front-row jump seat, because that would make it a nine-seater and, for UK taxation purposes at least, technically a minibus. But with what Land Rover claims are eight adult-appropriate seats at its disposal and nearly 400 litres of luggage volume left over when all are in place, the 130 makes a particularly spacious and practical car in any case, even by the standards of large family SUVs.