After a production run of 67 years, the Land Rover Defender was laid to rest in 2016 – and a nation of car lovers went into mourning.

The king is dead, long live the king! The new Defender took the throne three years later – and now we have this, the ultimate iteration.

The new Land Rover Defender V8 comes with an epic 525bhp 5.0-litre supercharged engine making it the fastest and most powerful production Defender ever.

Now, true Defender, er, defenders will turn their nose up at such frivolity.

After all, what use is zero-60mph in 4.9 seconds when you’re herding sheep down a country lane? But let’s face it, the closest that most new Defender owners will come to a spring lamb is their Easter roast.

Indeed, one of the main reasons the layman may have been put off from buying an original Defender was that it was a brute to drive and tortiously slow.

No such problems with the new V8 edition. And thanks to unique suspension tuning – including bespoke spring and damper rates and a new Electronic Active Rear Differential – it can take corners, too.

In fact, it’s the most agile and engaging Defender drive yet. Even off road, its Terrain Response system has been upgraded with a new Dynamic mode in case you do drift onto the rough stuff. 

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Land Rover Defender V8 from £98,505; landrover.co.uk