One-of-a-kind

“Continuity and loyalty,” summarised Virginia McKenna in describing the appeal of the Land Rover Defender, whose production at Solihull comes to an end early next year after a remarkable 67 years. The actress and founder of the Born Free Foundation (one of the charities benefitting from the sale) was herself involved in the build process of this ultra-special Defender 2,000,000, along with a host of other celebrities, ambassadors and important Land Rover faces, old and new. The presentation at Bonhams’ New Bond Street headquarters was slick, including old ‘Huey’ (a car we were fortunate enough to experience first hand at the Goodwood Revival earlier this year), a wall of dinky Defenders and a mural of real people’s ‘Land Rover Stories’.

With the champagne in full flow, Brooks opened the bidding low (the car was offered with no reserve), before a lengthy battle ensued between bidders in the room and those on the phone, eventually peaking at £400,000, at which point applause rang out. Despite Brooks’ laudable attempt to garner more (we quote, “It’s going far, far away”), the hammer dropped at the aforementioned figure. We sincerely hope to see this special Land Rover being used as it was always intended.

Photos: Land Rover