9th December 2019

Land Rover’s newest Defender seen on-set of the latest James Bond film

The upcoming James Bond film No Time to Die has offered a behind-the-scenes look at the role of latest Land Rover Defender.

Thanks to images released by Land Rover, the new Defender can be seen performing a number of rigorous tasks on the set of the upcoming James Bond film, No Time to Die. The latest 007 movie is set to hit UK cinemas on the 2nd April this year and is the first film to feature Land Rover’s latest off-road vehicle.

Based on the images supplied by Land Rover, it looks as though the new Defender is being pushed far and beyond it’s usual limits; hardly surprising considering the film’s action-packed nature. Shots included a blacked-out version jumping and drifting through muddy fields, as well as a clip in which a Defender is seen rolling onto its roof.

Mechanically the on-set Defenders are near-identical to those you can pick up at your local dealership, with the exception of stunt-specific kit such as a roll cage, bucket seats, racing harnesses and purpose-built off-road tyres. The car’s themselves appear in the Defender X trim level, meaning 20-inch alloys, darkened skid plates and a Santorini Black paint job.

Back in October 2018 Jaguar Land Rover opened a new production facility in Nitra, Slovakia at a cost of around £1bn, and interestingly these exact stunt cars were the first Defenders to be built there. Other Land Rover vehicles appearing in the movie include a Range Rover Sport SVR and an original Series III Land Rover.

Speaking about the reasoning behind using the new Defender, Lee Morrison, the James Bond stunt coordinator, said:

“Designing and coordinating the action sequences for the Bond franchise requires a non-compromising mindset. We needed an unstoppable vehicle to help us battle against the elements, steep descents and river crossings – so we chose the new Defender. I’m beyond impressed that the Defender is not only back but much, much better.”

Naturally Land Rovers won’t be the only British vehicles to appear in No Time to Die, with Aston Martin bringing the DB5, V8 Vantage and DB11 to the film as well. They’ll also debut their new Aston Martin Valhalla hypercar, which is set to be Bond’s main car throughout the movie.