window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot('/22557728108/my_article_breadcrumb_above_pc', [ 728, 90 ], 'div-gpt-ad-1685524554756-0').addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1685524554756-0'); });

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia

Hans · Oct 25, 2021 04:50 PM

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 01

Much has been written about the history of the Land Rover Defender but there is surprisingly very little about it from a Malaysian perspective, which is odd considering the fact that Malaysia (specifically Cameron Highlands) is known around the world as the place Land Rovers go to spend their remaining days.

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 02

Don't ask why there's a Mercedes star in front.

Ipoh’s Jalan Bendahara, specifically S.V.K Trading (erroneously marked by Google Maps as V.K.S Trading) is very well-known among Land Rover enthusiasts in all corners of the world looking for spare parts to keep their ‘Landy’ running.

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 03

Land Rover Series I - the legend that started it all. The Defender name would only come much later.

Sorry hardcore Land Rover fans, because covering the 68 years history of Land Rover in Malaysia is a topic too wide (and too niche of a focus) for us to cover. That’s a topic best left to veteran local motoring gurus and Land Rover fans Yamin Vong and Paul Si.

window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot('/22557728108/my_article_fourthp_under_pc', [ 728, 90 ], 'div-gpt-ad-1685525140735-0').addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1685525140735-0'); });

Instead, this post is for everyone else who has no idea who Maurice and Spencer Wilks were, and for younger buyers who are wondering why is the world fussing over a Land Rover Defender when a Porsche Cayenne is superior in every area relevant to a modern day driver.

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 01

The more modern version. The one that actually carries the Defender name

The short answer to that is culture. The Defender is the Swiss Army knife of cars. It’s an icon.

You buy it because it’s a newer, better version of the classic Defender that you once bounced about in the wooden bench seats behind, or because your hero dad once had one.

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 02

So what’s so special about the Land Rover Defender?

Like the Swiss Army knife, the original Defender is used by military (and police) forces in many parts of the world, especially in former British colonies like Malaysia.

It’s mechanically simple, and can be transformed into almost any work vehicle – from ambulance to fire trucks to tow trucks, even amphibious vehicles!

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 03

Its design remained more or less unchanged – because it was close to perfection - in the 68 years it was produced in Solihull in the UK, from 1948 to 2016. Local assembly in Malaysia continued for a few more years, until 2018, when all available CKD kits were used up.

That’s quite a feat for a car that started life as a sketch on the beach. In the mid ‘40s after World War 2 had ended, Maurice Wilks, then the engineering director at Rover, was tasked by his brother Spencer, who was Rover’s managing director to find a production that would increase utilization of the Solihull plant.

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 04

The last Defender rolled off Solihull in January 2016, 68 years after the original

At the same time, the Wilks brothers was also looking for a simple agricultural vehicle for their family’s farm.

Without going into too much details, Maurice sketched the design on the sandy beach of Red Wharf Bay on Anglesey, and by 1947, the first prototype was built.

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 05

The 1948 pre-production Land Rover, found after it was abandoned for 20 years

Since steel was in short supply in the post-war years, the Land Rover (Defender name was only used in 1990) was built using an aluminium alloy called Birmabright.

No clay models, no computer aided designs, no financial controllers. Just two brothers doodling with sticks on sand, that’s how the icon started life.

The 4x4 that built Malaysia

Long before the term SUV existed, Malaysians used to refer to any off-road vehicle as a ‘Land Rover,’ doesn’t matter if it’s actually a Toyota Land Cruiser or a Mitsubishi Pajero.

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 06

Even as the rest of the body rots away, the Land Rover will still run, and can be taken apart and put back together with basic tools 

To a regular Malaysian living in the '60s through the '90s, any car that can keep on driving after the road ends is a Land Rover. It’s a Malaysian household name. Like Maggi, or Milo. Doesn’t matter if it’s actually Cintan or Ovaltine.

Back then, the Land Rover Discovery didn’t exist, so Land Rover was both the brand and the model name. There were two variants – the short wheelbase 90 and the long wheelbase 110 – numbers denoting the vehicle’s wheelbase in inches.

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 07

The Land Rover is very much part of the Malaysian cultural fabric, as depicted in this comic by Datuk Mohammad Nor, better known as Lat

It was only in 1990 that Land Rover created the Defender model name.

For the many Malaysians who lived through the early years of Malaysia, the Land Rover was the car that towed their car when they had a mechanical breakdown, brought vegetables from the farms to your local shops.

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 08

How tow trucks in Malaysia used to look like

More importantly, the Land Rover Defender defended our young country from the Communist insurgency.

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 09

Your mum / grandma might be a lot cooler than you think. Try driving a Land Rover Series I yourself and you will know why. Image: PDRM

Until today, many farmers in Cameron Highlands still ply their trade using barely road legal early model Land Rover Defenders. It is said that most government fleet Land Rovers – which is a huge fleet - will retire in Cameron Highlands, where they spend their final days in peaceful farms.

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 10

One of the few ageing Land Rovers retained by JKR, now used as a ceremonial vehicle. JKR was known during the colonial era as the Public Works Department, founded in 1872, hence PWD 1872 (not an actual number plate).

Why Cameron Highlands? Because Land Rovers are such essential tools of trade for farmers, JPJ has created a special registration type for these old Land Rovers, paying just 10 percent of the usual road tax rate, on condition that these Land Rovers won’t be driven outside Cameron Highlands.

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 11

A common sight in Cameron Highlands

This is why you see a lot of old Land Rovers with the ‘CH’ lettering on the doors in Cameron Highlands.

Although the more modern Toyota Hilux has replaced the ageing Land Rovers as the most common transport for farmers, there are still many farmers who are sticking to their Land Rovers.

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 12

Another place where old Land Rovers are still going strong is Bukit Larut (Maxwell Hill) in Taiping. Private cars are not allowed to go up the picturesque hill resort and the only way up and down Maxwell Hill is by Land Rover Defenders.

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 13

Until today, Land Rover Defenders are the only transport up / down Maxwell Hill in Taiping

Fast forward to 2021, the world is a very different place from what Maurice and Spencer Wilks spent their prime years in. Today’s car industry would’ve chewed and spat out any car that was conceived and built the way the Wilks brothers did in 1948.

So the latest 2021 Land Rover Defender (watch the local launch event's video here) has to be better in every way, and still live up its reputation as the world’s best 4x4 by Far.

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 14

Of course, the original Defender is what purists and collectors want but if you want to work a farm, frankly a Toyota Hilux is better and today’s Land Rover has no interest in doing that anymore.

Today’s Land Rover owners are a demanding lot and the latest L663 generation 2021 Land Rover Defender is a reflection of that. It even comes with a ClearSight Ground View feature that allows you to “sees through” the bonnet. James Bond would approve.

Land Rover Defender: Not just a British icon, but the 4x4 that built Malaysia 15

Starting from RM 798,800, you would think that it's an overpriced icon, but it's sold out for 2021 even before it was launched. Book one today, and you will have to wait in line behind other wealthy collector before you can get yours in 2022. Interested buyers can register their interest here.

Also read: Sold out for 2021: So what if the all-new Land Rover Defender costs RM 800k?

Hans

Head of Content

Over 15 years of experience in automotive, from product planning, to market research, to print and digital media. Garages a 6-cylinder manual RWD but buses to work.

window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot('/22557728108/my_article_relatedmodel_above_pc', [ 728, 90 ], 'div-gpt-ad-1685525247138-0').addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1685525247138-0'); });
window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-a-2x2-stream', container: 'taboola-below-article-thumbnails', placement: 'Below Article Thumbnails', target_type: 'mix' });

Get a deal on your trade in within 24 hours!

2021 Land Rover Defender 110 2.0L

Upgrade

Add your car

Not trading-in?   Sell your car