Review: 40650 Land Rover Classic Defender
Posted by CapnRex101,
40517 Vespa was produced as a companion for 10298 Vespa 125 last year, recreating the vital features of its larger counterpart. 40650 Land Rover Classic Defender follows the same trend, bringing 10317 Land Rover Classic Defender 90 down to minifigure-scale.
This model seems incredibly accurate in official images, considering the relatively small scale. Moreover, the set is affordably priced at £13.49, $14.99 or €14.99 and even the minifigure is new, so the Land Rover seems certain to impress!
Summary
40650 Land Rover Classic Defender, 150 pieces.
£13.49 / $14.99 / €14.99 | 9.0p/10.0c/10.0c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
The minifigure-scale Land Rover looks fantastic and provides fair value
- Good size for play
- Excellent shape
- Realistic details
- Odd colour choice
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigure
The minifigures featured in Creator sets usually comprise common parts, but the Land Rover's driver includes a new torso, shared with 60362 Car Wash. The decorative pineapples look nice and match a couple of similarly fruit-themed torsos introduced in recent years, which are clearly a fashionable choice in LEGO City.
The double-sided head looks good too, displaying neutral and cheerful expressions, with green glasses and some freckles. The dark orange eyebrows match the selected hair element as well. No accessories are provided, but the minifigure alone is sufficient, in my opinion.
The Completed Model
Unlike the supercars often appearing in Speed Champions, I think the Land Rover Defender is ideally suited to a more traditional six-wide model. The vehicle therefore measures 12cm long and its proportions are accurate, with substantial ground clearance and generous space for a minifigure inside. Of course, the boxy shape is also perfect for LEGO.
However, I question the flame yellowish orange colour choice. While not unheard of, the Land Rover is more commonly associated with muted colours, so perhaps dark blue or green would have been preferable. On the other hand, this shade does not require any parts in new colours. Furthermore, the combination of flame yellowish orange and white is attractive.
The front of the model includes a pair of printed 2x2 jumper plates, flanking a stickered radiator grille. Ideally, all three pieces would be printed, although the jumper plates alone are a pleasant surprise. The resulting design looks excellent and I like the light bluish grey bumper. The bonnet could be improved though, as I am not convinced the upper layer of tiles was really necessary.
Additionally, the shape of the Land Rover's distinctive wheel arches has been simplified, but a new piece would be needed for complete accuracy. The current design thus looks reasonable, while the addition of an extra layer of tiles covers the wedge plates on the bonnet, leaving this vehicle almost completely smooth.
The minifigure sits centrally inside, behind the steering wheel. There is only enough space for one character in the front, but another character or some accessories could be placed in the back. The roof is removable, which also reveals the clever construction of the side windows, using 1x1x1 2/3 bricks with studs on the side.
While essentially every aspect of this model is appealing, my favourite section is the back. The spare tyre is correctly offset, creating space for the square rear number plate, represented by a yellow 1x1 tile. The roof rack seems realistic as well, with connection points on top, so you could attach accessories.
Overall
40650 Land Rover Classic Defender is pretty to close to perfection! The shape and proportions of the model are instantly recognisable with the original vehicle, despite simplifications in some areas, such as the wheel arches. The interior space is impressive, while the addition of printed headlights shows remarkable attention to detail, given the scale.
My only notable criticism relates to the flame yellowish orange colour scheme, which I would not associate with the Land Rover Defender. This is understandable though and I do like the colour, despite others being more realistic. For the price of £13.49, $14.99 or €14.99, this is certainly a worthwhile purchase.
159 likes
54 comments on this article
Hopefully it can become 8 wide because I would love it in my speed champions collection along side the Ford Bronco.
Camel Trophy colour?
The set is instant buy for me. :)
Minor gripe: for $5, it could have come with a tiny version of all the add-on pieces of its larger counterpart. Might be easy to customize one: throw on an extra tire, fire extinguisher, yadda yadda. Oh well. Otherwise cute.
Excited to get my hands on this. I would much prefer it to be sand blue or dark green, but oh well. I like the grille sticker and might try using it on a MOC. I used to do Land Rover MOCS on LDD as my dad has a Series III.
Perfect LEGO City car. Wouldn't be too hard to exchange all yellow pieces with different colors to have variety in your city, I guess.
It's a fantastic representation of the real thing. I actually like the bright colour choice.
Does the girl in 60384 count towards the growing number of fruit torsos (part 6425508)?
I wonder if the tiled layer on the bonnet is to make a studless vehicle @CapnRex101
Yellow car.
Lego doesn't make nearly enough good civilian cars, so I'll definitely get this for my layout
Going to get this to keep my Lego technic Land Rover company
Nice little set! Biggest issue indeed is the color, not necessarily because it looks bad or not suitable for the car, but mostly because it's so clearly visible behind the headlights. Maybe instead of those jumper plates they had better just used tiles with printed headlights. And as others have mentioned: Some accessoires would have been nice. But other than that, pretty much perfect.
And while the minifig isn't bad, I had rather seen one that looked ready for some rough off-road action, not afraid to get covered in mud.
But certainly gonna get this one!
This is a neat and cool thing to see, it can be easy to replicate in different colors.
@WizardOfOss said:
"And while the minifig isn't bad, I had rather seen one that looked ready for some rough off-road action, not afraid to get covered in mud."
I like it because it's different from what I'd expect! It's very easy to make a rougher minifig; old pirate heads on your body of choice do well. Or the blue sunglasses with stubble and the green "ranger" vest with pockets and a cowboy hat. I find I never have enough female minifigs, so this is welcome.
A day-1 buy for me and my two sons. Good value and nifty subject matter.
Like the scale as works well on City roads, I will try and adapt the front using 2 rows of two 1x3 jumpers as seats with no doors to get 2 minifigs to sit next to each other.
I actually think the tiles on the bonnet are a great (and purposeful) detail. Time to go full car nerd...
Towards the end of the 00s, Defenders were fitted with different engines. Previously they'd had the venerable Td5 engine, but emissions and safety legislation (as well as cost no doubt) meant they had to switch to using a Ford Transit power unit. This was taller than the Td5, and since neither Land Rover nor Ford were willing to design a new sump to lower the engine block, they simply added a bulge to the bonnet so that it would fit. That would date this particular model of Landie to 2007 or later.
So rather than being a clumsy way of tiling off the bonnet, I think it's actually indicative of some great attention to detail, consistent with the rest of the model! I will definitely be picking one up.
Looks like it'll easily convert into the pick-up version as well
Nice set I'll definitely get! This is the rare case when I wish the printed tiles were stickers, because then those could go on a different color jumper to make a different color truck. But the Flame Orange is also nice and can be modified into a good looking safari or Camel Trophy truck.
Going to put this in my LEGO city running over a pedestrian for that authentic Land Rover experience
Is this a normal set what people can buy from every Lego seller shops or they have to order something from Lego.com?
Anyone else suddenly in the mood for pizza?
For those who don't like the color, I'm wondering if one can order – through Pick-a-Brick or online vendors – the parts for the body in the color of their choice.
Looks like a superb model.
Really like the colour actually, it’s very appealing, I think because it is so different to the larger scale model, and bright.
Side note for Aussies - looks like our release date is now 1st July instead of June.
This is a GREAT set and a day 1 multiple purchase for me (for Modding)
The colour isn't that strange, as the North American Spec was often in this colour.
A Google image search for Land Rover NAS90 returns quite a lot in this colour:
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=land+rover+nas90
I would have actually preferred stickers on this set, then the whole things could have been remade in a different body colour.
The colour choice maybe to do with the teaser video, didn't that have a yellow version with a white roof?
It's kind of stupid how much I want like...50 of these. Great details, great minifig, great scale. Easy to swap minifigs around to make a yellow Land Rover owners club, maybe add a few mods to some of them. I wish they'd make more 6-wide cars like this. It's like Off Road Champions line is getting a start!
Glad to see this small high quality set sold on its own. At first glance I thought it would be another one only available as GWP for north of $150.
Excellent shape, but not wild about the colour. I think a Minidoll would be more at home standing next to it!
Still a definite buy though.
@dimc said:
"I like it because it's different from what I'd expect! It's very easy to make a rougher minifig; old pirate heads on your body of choice do well. Or the blue sunglasses with stubble and the green "ranger" vest with pockets and a cowboy hat. I find I never have enough female minifigs, so this is welcome. "
I never said she can't be female....but right now she looks more Range Rover Evoque than Land Rover. I just can't imagine her do the Camel Trophy like this....
Possibly my favourite set of the year so far and then I knew just about nothing about Land Rovers before this was announced, it's just such a great looking Lego car!
Will mod it to fit two minifigs side by side (I totally understand why it doesn't for stability purposes in an 8+ set, the limitation of hairstyles that would fit and the need to reintroduce the double high car doors in flame yellowish orange), add some appropriate interior, accessories and a rear window.
@CapnRex101 said:
"this shade does not require any parts in new colours"
It certainly would have been welcome with a re-colour of the two yellow 99206 PLATE 2X2X2/3 W. 2. HOR. KNOB used at the very front of the bonnet. Also, it's odd that they used a dark grey headlight brick for the license plate as that was re-introduced in flame yellowish orange earlier this year, and a dark grey technic 1x2 brick with two holes for the spare wheel instead of a 1x1 brick in flame yellowish orange.
@Galaktek said:
"Nice set I'll definitely get! This is the rare case when I wish the printed tiles were stickers, because then those could go on a different color jumper to make a different color truck."
Since they're not tiles, but jumper plates, a stick er could be a problem because of that stud in the middle.
This looks great and nice shaping for a mini Land Rover.
Excellent to have another vehicle for the City.
Wait, it's actually not a GWP!?
That's amazing! Another set below 30 to add to the roster :D
I wonder if there's a restriction not to have a part overlapping a stickered part causing undo wear to the underlying sticker. Or it's that the sticker is just thick enough to exceed tolerances for legal connections of stacked parts, whereas printing the underlying part avoids that situation.
I for one prefer that all decorated parts be prints whenever possible, but I do acknowledge the advantage of stickers in some cases for MOCing sets in another color scheme.
'Tis a nice set in any case!
More sets like this less sets like oversized technics please :D
The ONLY time I wish prints were stickers…
@WizardOfOss said:
" @dimc said:
"I like it because it's different from what I'd expect! It's very easy to make a rougher minifig; old pirate heads on your body of choice do well. Or the blue sunglasses with stubble and the green "ranger" vest with pockets and a cowboy hat. I find I never have enough female minifigs, so this is welcome. "
I never said she can't be female....but right now she looks more Range Rover Evoque than Land Rover. I just can't imagine her do the Camel Trophy like this...."
The ranger vest would probably work well with her head! I know I have a body with some greasy rags and tools too (https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=970c00pb0991&name=Hips%20and%20Legs%20with%20Red%20Belt,%20Silver%20Buckle,%20Knee%20Pads,%20Tool%20Belt%20with%20Tools,%20Handkerchief%20with%20Stars%20Pattern&category=%5BMinifigure,%20Legs,%20Decorated%5DT=C&C=6), this would be more like it! Or else something Adventurers style.
Although workarounds are possible, it's that 1 x 1 x 1 2/3 brick with studs on side that seems to me the hardest part for all colors, but it's available in sand green, dark red, dark green, tan, bley & dark bley, black and lots more, and the quarter 1 x 1 tile is the other make or break part dor other liveries I think. Sand green's tough for that one.
@TeddytheSpoon said:
"I actually think the tiles on the bonnet are a great (and purposeful) detail. Time to go full car nerd...
Towards the end of the 00s, Defenders were fitted with different engines. Previously they'd had the venerable Td5 engine, but emissions and safety legislation (as well as cost no doubt) meant they had to switch to using a Ford Transit power unit. This was taller than the Td5, and since neither Land Rover nor Ford were willing to design a new sump to lower the engine block, they simply added a bulge to the bonnet so that it would fit. That would date this particular model of Landie to 2007 or later.
So rather than being a clumsy way of tiling off the bonnet, I think it's actually indicative of some great attention to detail, consistent with the rest of the model! I will definitely be picking one up."
What he said.
I am not getting the "odd colour choice" comment... it would've been better to say "I dislike yellow" rather than labelling it as a negative characteristic of the model.
I've seen many yellow cars, trucks, and jeeps and yellow is plenty realistic. But I will admit, Sand Green to be more like it's counterpart would have been better, but I'm plenty fine with yellow.
It's a shame the minifigure wasn't a stereotypical Land Rover enthusiast, with a torso with the brand logo and covered in oil stains.
I would have preferred stickers over printing this time, so I could make this in other colours. Oh well, black jumper plates will have to do
@vzarmo said:
"Is this a normal set what people can buy from every Lego seller shops or they have to order something from Lego.com?"
This set appears to be a Lego exclusive so it will only be available directly from their in-person or online stores. Luckily, it is not a GWP.
@Minifig_Jez said:
"
The colour isn't that strange, as the North American Spec was often in this colour.
A Google image search for Land Rover NAS90 returns quite a lot in this colour:
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=land+rover+nas90
"
I came here to say this. NAS Defenders are pretty rare but when you do see one (in pics or in person), there's a good chance that it's yellow. A quick Google search turns up a site that shows yellow being the 3rd most abundant color for NASs by a pretty wide margin, behind white and a shade of green. I get that yellow probably isn't the most common color globally, especially since it's been available for WAY longer than in the US, but perhaps Lego wanted something to stand out from the larger green set and for the people who would say "not another white vehicle."
I quite like the flame-yellowish orange colour scheme, it really pops.
I'll be picking this one up for sure! It's lovely to see a 6-wide car done so smoothly.
@PhantomBricks said:
" @vzarmo said:
"Is this a normal set what people can buy from every Lego seller shops or they have to order something from Lego.com?"
This set appears to be a Lego exclusive so it will only be available directly from their in-person or online stores. Luckily, it is not a GWP."
thanks for the info. I just checked it. It’s 18.90CHF which is kinda funny because 15€ is like 13.90CHF.
For real accuracy, the set should have come with a tow truck
I just love this little off-roader, it even match City vehicles in scale (sorry, but current 8-wide Speed Champions are too large for my taste), but I feel like it could be easily improved with already existing pieces. I've made a 3D model from the official pictures with these improvements, feel free to take it as inspiration in case you want to apply some modifications:
https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-150031/Transfesa/land-rover-defender-90-rally/
It features the following improvements:
- Functional doors
- Roof in the same colour as body (I know some Land Rovers have white roof, but not Camel Trophy)
- Tow hitch for attaching a trailer
- Some rally equipment for a complete version of a 'Camel Trophy' Land Rover Defender
I am glad to see that a yellow rear plate has been included in the same place I have done, this didn't appear in the official images. It would be nice it they included 1x1 tiles in other colours to represent different countries, for example white, blue, green and red.
I'm currently working on a Land Rover Defender 110 and pick-up versions of this great classic vehicle in other more popular colours as some of you have suggested.
Kind regards.
Great review! Shame it is ruined by the colour which frankly looks disgusting and terrible. They could have at least made it regular yellow... But perhaps someone could explain to me what the actual problem is with dark blue, sand green, dark green, maybe even a regular green? Or white? Or just any normal colour??? Lego really loves ruining anything normal by making it weird, wacky and stupid. :(
Otherwise it would be really good. I also really wish Lego would release a Gen I or Gen II Land Rover (you know, the ones that are actually famous Land Rovers!) I also agree with other comments it would have been nice to have some sort of accessory to put in the back/on the roof etc.
@Cornelwine said:
"Camel Trophy colour?
The set is instant buy for me. :)"
The comments about the colour surprised me. As a kid this was THE colour for these, I only saw them on TV. I did not even know it was called a Land Rover Defender. It was 'the Camel Trophy car'.
Want this, wish it was a bit wider to fit 2 figs in front and NO stickers. I know I’ll screw up that up
I especially love small sets, and 40650 is near perfection ?? really love it ??
Sets like this are perfect for adding a touch of the real-world to a LEGO City layout. More of these please, LEGO!