LEGO ICONS Land Rover Classic Defender 90 Review

LEGO Take Us On A New Off-Road Adventures With The LEGO® ICONS™ Land Rover Classic Defender 90 (10317)

LEGO brings us a new vehicle set for 2023 – and although we have seen this particular vehicle before in Technic, this is the first time we see it in system brick.
The Land Rover Defender is the newest in the line-up, and certainly is one with a lot of extra features and character to it. But is it all just glitz and glam over a fairly simplistic build, or is there more to this Land Rover than meet the eye? Read on!

The Vehicle Itself

The first thing to note about the Land Rover Discovery is that the model is in a solid sand green colour, which is not a colour that has had much versatility in parts over the last few years. I should know – I’ve tried making a MOC out of sand green and the choices aren’t strong. This model gives us a few new parts recoloured in sand green, and nicely combined with the white and blacks to complete the feel.
This model also gives a few customisation options – but more on that later. For now, I’d like to highlight a few extra details I love about the default version of the car. I love the exposed fuel cap on the side of the model, as well as the towbar and new printed 1×1 tile with the Land Rover logo.
The inside of the car is surprisingly spacious, with a dark tan interior colour, not short on internal details such as radio, gearstick and even a coffee cup to boot. There is also a lot of room in the rear compartment of the build, which is essential for all the tools this set brings along.
The car is also loaded up with a detailed engine – which you can choose between a petrol v8 or Diesel version, both complete with rubber bands to help dust of the aesthetic, and the build makes sure to add the suspension to the vehicle for those off-road treks.

Customisation

As far as customisation goes, there is a LOT. This vehicle comes with various exposed and empty clips across the model. Which when building this as the ‘clean’ version, they simply look out of place. But with the loaded version?

This bad boy ramps up in quality significantly. You can swap out the front bumper for one with a winch, change the hood of the car to three different options (but I personally love the wheel on the hood version). Attach a roof rack and framework to the body, and even attach headlights and a snorkel to the top of the vehicle.

Accessories

The accessories all seem initially somewhat random or burdening on the model, like how we reviewed the 10290 Pickup Truck from a while back. But there is a home for every single tool that comes with the model instead of having piles of accessories just dumped on the side.

The accessories are a pickaxe, shovel, hatchet, hammer, fire extinguisher, two extra wheels, toolkit, two jerry cans. Tyre jack and traction pads to get out of some muddy situations.

Like seriously, this thing has so much crammed into such a little body that I’m actually really impressed at how it turned out. In a way that wasn’t compromising to the overall aesthetic.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, this is a set that really captures the overall Land Rover Defender aesthetic really well. When looking backwards and comparing it to the Technic version of the set from yesteryear, this one is a huge step forward in its evolution.

The newest version of the set definitely jumps up a bit more compared to the older version. But we get a significantly better building experience and final overall aesthetic that is really hard to come by in some of these car sets. Maybe it’s just my bias towards System over Technic, but this is one high-quality car.

It’s still a hefty sting on the budget. But I feel like those people who would want to buy this set are either already car people. Or adventurous types of people who might already have this car. My stereotypical viewpoint on that is that those people wouldn’t be phased by this price point. But for the average consumer, this could still be a bit of a price jump.

If you’re looking for my recommendation of a thumbs up or down, it’s a thumbs up. Car people will love this.