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Step into your Land Rover dealer soon and you may see a unique green Defender. No, that green doesn’t mean it’s “green,” but instead if you see a Cashmere Green Defender SUV, that means it s a Defender 75th Limited Edition, celebrating the 1948 launch of the original Series 1 Defender. If you’ve ever seen an old Land Rover Defender, it likely came in a similar shade of military green.

What is the new Defender 75th Limited Edition?

2022 Land Rover Defender 75th Anniversary Edition
Defender 75th Limited Edition | Land Rover

The Cashmere Green Defender 75th Limited Edition celebrates, as you guessed, 75 years of Rovers. But, in this case, it does so with a pair of all-green Defenders in either the 90, for $91,880, or 110 versions, for $94,380. The Defender 110 is the longer wheelbase, four-door, version of the Defender. The Anniversary package is a $45,000 upgrade for a Defender, which normally starts at $53,500.

On the outside, you can spot an anniversary edition not just by its green paint (like the original) but the 75th Anniversary badging. On the inside, the Defender 7t5th Limited Edition has a folding fabric roof, instead of a sunroof. It also gets the upgraded heated, power 14-way driver and passenger seats, and some other touches, like green accents on the doors and the dash. It also gets a heated steering wheel and three-zone climate control controls.

The new Defender is green and “greener”

Defender 75th Limited Edition
The Defender 75th Limited Edition interior | Land Rover

Land Rover is committing to going all electric soon. But, before it gets there, it’s taking some baby steps with hybrid power. The new Defender 75th gets Rover’s P400 engine with a mild hybrid electric booster. The P400 engine is an inline six-cylinder engine and hybrid that makes a combined 395 horsepower. You can order a regular Defender 90 with a stonking 5.0-liter gas V8 that makes 518 horsepower, or P300 that gasoline engine that makes 296 horsepower.

Why did the original 1948 Series 1 matter?

The Land Rover Series 1 was often painted green.
Classic series Land Rover | Nik Taylor via Getty Images

After World War II ended, there was a big need in England for a tough, reliable, and capable vehicle, especially in rural areas. Land Rover decided to fill the niche with the Series 1, which had a 1.6-liter or 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines. It basically was a tractor with a roof in that it had leaf springs, a four-wheel-drive transfer case, and a low-speed four-wheel drive mode to pull stumps.

But, this was a simple farm vehicle. It only had a synchronized gearbox for the top two gears, so you had to double-declutch when you were shifting from third to second. That’s a lost art in modern cars.

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Dan Mayfield

Dan joined MotorBiscuit in 2022 with over 20 years of experience in journalism and a lifelong passion for anything related to the automotive industry. He grew up wrenching a 1949 Ford pickup truck and an MGB with his dad, learning how not to wire a fuel pump (he inadvertently set the MGB on fire).

After earning a bachelor’s degree in photojournalism from the University of New Mexico, Dan has contributed his expertise to a range of local outlets, including the City of Albuquerque, US Eagle, and the Alliance for Local Economic Prosperity.

On weekends, Dan spends Saturdays enjoying “cars and coffee” chats and, on Sundays, he’s watching the Route 66 Cruise roll through town. He also races motorcycles, and it’s not unusual to find him elbows-deep in his latest cafe racer build.

Taking advantage of the local desert terrain, Dan also enjoys exploring and driving off-road in his trusty Ram Rebel pickup truck, which provides personal insights into his contributions to our Trucks, SUVs, & Crossovers coverage. Dan strives to give our readers unique information about the dynamic automotive market, reading anything that has to do with cars, trucks, bikes, 4X4s, and, in his words, “everything with a motor.”

Dan has earned a number of accolades from the Public Relations Society of America, and is a University of Southern California, Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism Fellow.