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Its boxed-steel frame and lightweight aluminum body panels proved highly beneficial, making the Land Rover light at the top end and extremely rigid at the bottom -- qualities that greatly enhanced its off-road performance. Before long, Land Rovers were slogging through places few wheeled vehicles had ever gone before. The Land Rover legend was well in the making.
This very same body and frame construction is a Land Rover trademark to this day. Likewise, the very first Land Rover model featured permanent four-wheel drive, which continuously supplies power to all four wheels. It, too, is a feature of every Land Rover vehicle built today.
And while the first Land Rovers were fairly crude devices, nearly 50 year's experience with four-wheel drive has culminated in a production sport-utility vehicle that is today both civilized and rugged, simple yet sophisticated. It is why, as more and more sport-utility vehicles make their appearance on the roads of America, Defender 90 still stands alone.
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