2015 Land Rover Defender 90 Heritage UK first drive

Say hello to Huey Junior. Huey Senior, for those who don’t know, was the original 1947 pre-production Series I Land Rover, so-called because it carried the registration plate HUE 166.

This limited-edition (only 400 will be made for the UK) Heritage model carries the HUE 166 number on its front wing and on labels stitched into the seats, and is one of three run-out models that will draw 67 years of Defender production to a close next January.

As well as the evocative badging, these exclusive Heritage models also come in this very attractive shade of Grasmere Green metallic paint, with Almond Cloth seats, steel wheels, a white roof and a Heritage Style Grille, to complete that 1940s look.

If you fancy one, you’ll need to look lively and sprint down to your nearest Land Rover dealer. They may seem expensive at nearly £31,000, but plenty of people will want to buy one for a slice of history, and they’ll be confident that this brand new classic will become highly collectable in the future.

As a kid, I used to trundle about a farm in a Defender (a B-plate 1984 soft-top 90 model, to be precise), regularly sharing the open-backed load area with a sheep or a bale of hay. As a result, I have first-hand experience of just how astonishingly good all Defenders are off road.

It was this go-anywhere ability that once saved my dad’s bacon, too. He was due to be the best man at a friend’s wedding, but woke up that morning in December 1963 to find himself completely snowed in at the family farm in Wales. It was only because there was a Series II Landie lurking about on site that both he and my mum - who was dressed to impress but accessorised with a pair of wellies - were able to complete the 100-mile trek and make the nuptuals.

So, does that mean climbing up into the cab of Huey Jr here was a pleasurable trip down memory lane? No, not really. You see, as gifted as Defenders are off road, I’ve always thought they were uncomfortable, slow and noisy.

Back in the late 1980s, when Flossy and I were cosied up in that 90, the Defender was a 40-year old relic then; I would much rather have been riding in the back seat of one of the new and far more comfortable Land Rover Discoverys - a car that was no slouch off road itself.

That original Disco is long gone now, and even the current Discovery 4, complete with a fancy TDV6 engine and air suspension, is on its last legs and will soon be replaced. Time moves on, and things, more often than not, get better in the process.

So, pottering about Surrey in the cockpit of Huey Jr does beg the question: why has the Defender lasted so long, and why would you buy one now?

Just to get in, I needed to remember that special origami trick of how to fold my 6ft 3in frame to fit into the cramped - but admittedly supportive - driver’s seat of a Defender. Once aboard, you sit behind a vast steering wheel that feels like a leftover from the days before power steering - the days when a large-diameter wheel was essential for extra leverage.

It’s got hardly any steering lock, either, so U-turns are near-impossible unless you’re in the middle of a field, so on road it’s best to think in terms of W-turns, instead.