Land Rover Defender 130.

The Land-Rover D130 used to be the "127" which is its wheelbase in inches. It was available initially only as a special order for special purpose vans and the like. When the name Defender was coined to distinguish the basic utility models from the Land-Rover Discovery and Range Rover, the 127 became the Defender 130 - the wheelbase did not change however.

The standard engine is Land-Rover's 2.5L 4cyl 300-series diesel (since late 1994). It claims good power and torque due to turbo-charging and inter-cooling, but it still seems rather small to haul such a big truck around. Suspension is by coil springs all round, doubled up at the rear.

The crew-cab consists of a sawn-off Defender station-wagon body. It can be bought with or without the high-capacity pick up (HCPU) tray (above). If without, a locally-made aluminium tray can be fitted (below):

• D130 mobile-lab' / camper; the cab-chassis version is a common basis for special vehicles opeations (SVO) conversions.
• See the Other Defenders, Land Rover and Specifications pages