The following is an extract from the Dunsfold Land Rover Trust Newsletter for February 1996:

"...congratulations to Land Rover for winning the large British Army contract for light 4x4 vehicles during January 1996. Contract is for 8,800 vehicles, of which 8,000 will be light and medium utility trucks (that is, Defender XD90 and XD110 models) and the other 800 will be field ambulance with Marshall bodywork on the Defender XD130 chassis. All will have the 300Tdi engine.

This is the largest order Land Rover has ever received, and came shortly after the company signed a contract to supply vehicles to the Italian Army for the first time. The two contracts together are worth more than 200 million pounds sterling and the company estimates that the knock-on effect of winning these orders could generate additional business worth up to 400 million pounds over the next few years. So those pessimists who believed that the Defender was about to be phased out have been proved wrong yet again! The new military models were developed under the codename of Wolf, and the original Wolf I design submitted for trials was subsequently beefed-up considerably to produce Wolf 2, which won the contract. Wolf 2, or the Defender XD (eXtra Duty) will be built alongside the existing Defender models and, although there are no plans to offer it on the civilian market yet, Land Rover could no doubt be persuaded if someone were to put in a large fleet order..."

This is all food for thought isn't it? What a pity these orders didn't come through a couple of years or so ago.