LAND ROVER / FILM VEHICLES
Skyfall’s Defender: a film vehicle on the Paris stand
A screen-used Double Cab Pick Up connected the motor-show display with film production.
On 18 September 2012 JLR announced a Paris display of the Defender Double Cab Pick Up used in Skyfall’s opening sequence. Its show appearance was planned for 28 September, ahead of the film’s UK release on 26 October.
Seventy-seven vehicles did not mean seventy-seven screen cars
JLR supplied 77 vehicles across Defender, Range Rover and Jaguar XJ for both filming and production support. The total should not be described as the number of vehicles appearing on screen or as 77 identical Defenders.
Recognising production equipment
The source image shows a Defender carrying filming equipment and an elevated driving rig. These are production adaptations rather than normal road-car equipment. They should not be interpreted as an approved customer accessory package or evidence that all film vehicles had the same modifications.
A cultural appearance within the model’s history
The display celebrated the Bond films’ fiftieth anniversary. It did not introduce a new Defender generation. The road car’s model updates and the film-production vehicle are separate subjects even when they share a calendar year.
Illustrations recomposed from period press imagery. Image licence.