The bad news is that the production for the current model of the Land Rover Defender will be suspended in December 2015.

The good news, however, is that Land Rover will again start producing the iconic Defender in 2018.

The first Defender was produced in 1948 and after more than 60 years, the design is still the same. The design of the vehicle has remained unchanged for so many years, with biggest changes to the car coming under the hood. Land Rover has improved the engine and the suspension of the vehicle over the years and has added some luxuries to make the Defender more functional and practical for daily usage.

In 1948, the first series of the Land Rover Defender was produced and the car has retained the status of “the most utilitarian” off-road vehicle money can buy. The first Defender was built on a steel box, with aluminum used for the body of the car. With a 1.6 liter gasoline engine, the Defender produced just 50hp, but had an all-wheel drive, a rarity back those days. In the first 10 years, the Defender was used mostly by farmers.

It wasn’t until the second generation of the Land Rover Defender, produced from 1958 until 1971 that the vehicle got its style. It was the second series of the Defender that introduced the iconic look and shape that we still see today. The company added a lot more inside the vehicle and increased the load capacity of the vehicle. Land Rover also added some “luxuries” for the second generation, such as door mirrors.

In 1990, the vehicle was actually named the Defender. There weren’t many improvements and updates until 2007, when the vehicle got a new exterior trim and a new, 2.4 liter diesel engine. The fifth generation of the Defender will end its lifecycle in December this year.

However, as we mentioned, Land Rover will resume the production of the Defender in 2018, when users can expect several new features, a better body and much more utilities and features that will modernize the rugged car used by the farmers.

The new and fresh Land Rover Defender will keep the utilitarian feel the car is famous for. However, expect the car to adopt a new, aluminum body in order to adjust to the modern trends. The interior of the vehicle is also expected to go through a redesign, in order to provide more comfort, coziness and technology features for the driver.

Last, but not the least, we expect the new Land Rover Defender to come with a more powerful engine than ever. Some of the engines in the lineup for Land Rover include a supercharged 5.0 liter V8 engine, a 3.0 liter V6 and the standard 2.0 liter that can run on both diesel and gasoline.