Land Rover has published a pair of videos that showcase how it builds the Defender in Solihull, England. The videos highlight nearly all of the steps involved including the assembly of the panels that make up the body, the water test and the final quality check that all Defenders must pass before they are are cleared to roll out of the factory.
It’s interesting to note how many humans are still involved in assembling the Defender. Machines do most of the heavy lifting but men and women are on hand to hammer on metal clips, insert rivets into the fenders, drop the frame on a rotisserie, make sure that the 2.2-liter engine is perfectly aligned with the mounts and even weld certain components.
According to Land Rover, the Defender only shares two components with the original model that was introduced in 1948: One is the small retaining plate that helps hold the hood in place and the other is the rear underbody support strut (both pictured below).
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