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A vehicle I’ve always wanted for as long as I can remember is a red 1997 Land Rover Defender 90. It was the last year the Defender was available in the United States before airbag laws prevented Land Rover from selling it. Iconic, at the very least, the Land Rover Defender is the definition of an SUV and it’s still available overseas - a reason enough to for me to become an expatriate. Well, maybe that’s an extreme but I do love the Defender.

This year is Land Rover’s 60th anniversary and in good form they’ve built a limited run of 1,800 Defender SVX’s, complete with new headlight and grille trim, roll cage, diamond turned wheels, custom Recearo seats, Garmin GPS, iPod dock and special black paint. The Defender looks as good now as it did when it first came of the line 20+ years ago. Best part is there aren’t all that many parts that differ from the original.

You won’t be able to get the Defender SVX stateside. Worse yet is the fact that you won’t be able to buy it in the UK and import it for another 15 years due to the wonderful laws of importation. We know, we checked.

More images after the jump.

[click on image to enlarge]

[click on image to enlarge]