LAND ROVER DESCRIBED “INTENSE OFF-
ROAD SITUATIONS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF
HEART.” WHAT HAD I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?Found in the Marienfluss Valley, this is what’s left of a Series II Land
Rover, the modern Defender’s predecessor. It broke down decades
ago, shuttling refugees from Angola into Namibia during the South
African Boarder War, which roiled Namibia and Angola for 2 3 years.Powertrains are a departure from the
Defender of yesteryear, too. A P300-
badged 296-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged I-4
is standard for the U.S. market; a P400-
badged mild hybrid with a 3.0-liter turbo-
charged I-6 and an electric supercharger
is optional. The hybrid powertrain makes
a healthy 395 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque.
All Defender powertrains are paired
with an eight-speed automatic and
permanent four-wheel drive. The
Defender 110s Land Rover brought to
Namibia were all P400 and D240 models,
the latter a not-for-America optional
high-output 2.0-liter turbodiesel I-4
making 236 hp and 317 lb-ft of torque.
Central Opuwo, Kunene Region:
18° 02 ’4 2 .1”S, 13°5 0 ’ 0 1. 2 ”E
Our gaggle of Indus Silver Defender
110 P400s and Pangea Green Defender
110 D240s looks properly Africa, sitting
at our starting point, smack dab in the
middle of bustling Opuwo. Kitted out
with Land Rover’s Explorer Pack (which
includes an expedition roof rack capable
of supporting a dynamic load of 370
pounds, a snorkel, and a side-mounted
ladder and gear carrier, among other
things), off-road tires (factory optional),
and a Warn winch kit (available at your
local dealer), our group of five Defenders
is primed for anything Namibia’s desolate
interior can throw at us.
Yet as I dodge goats, Toyotas, and more
goats leaving Opuwo in our fancy hybrid-
ized Defender P400, I can’t help but feel
just a little bit skeptical of the whole
enterprise—could a cushy, air-sprung
unibody SUV really stand up to the abuse
Namibia is about to throw at it?
In the invitation to the event, Land
Rover described the expedition as
including “intense off-road situations
not for the faint of heart.” This from a
company that had taken on the challenge
of two decades of intense Camel Trophy
treks with typical British understate-
ment. I wonder what, exactly, I had
gotten myself into.With the low, squat city disappearing
into the Rover’s ClearSight video
rearview “mirror,” I’ll soon find out.
With mountains in the distance and
sharp, thorny trees scraping the sides
of my Defender, these northern reaches
of Namibia stretching toward Angola
remind me a lot of the Arizona–Utah
border. The trail consists of narrow,
rocky tracks, sand, and wide washes in
what would be rivers if Namibia weren’t
enduring a six-year drought.
Despite our remoteness, signs of
humanity are everywhere. Every half
hour or so we stumble through a Himba
village, usually little more than thatchedFIRST DRIVE
JUNE 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 41