For off-road enthusiasts bored by the machismo of domestic 4x4s, Land Rover now offers a thoroughly retro package to offset the new-school oddity of its new Defender SUV.

I got to drive around in the 2024 Defender 110 with its special County exterior package, which gives the already distinctive SUV even sharper looks with gloss-white 20-inch steel wheels, including the tail-mounted spare, a white high-contrast roof and even a white tailgate door. There are also retro-styled body graphics, with the entire package designed to make the new Defender look like the original Defender County of the early 1980s.

(You’ll notice it does look a little like one of the many white-wheeled, retro-styled builds of the new Ford Bronco and Bronco Sport, but it’s hard to say who influenced who, exactly.)

This $67,900 (or $82,000, highly optioned-out) version of the 110, the mid-sized, two-row model of the new Defender, was powered by a somewhat quirky inline-6 gasoline engine with a hybrid system, producing 395 horsepower and mileage that consistently hovered around 19 mpg.

While Land Rover has been talking a lot about its rapid move to electric vehicles, they seem to be getting the most out of the soon-to-be-forbidden gasoline engines. You can now get two different grades of supercharged V8 with the 110 model, including a 493-horsepower SE model for $93,000 or a 518-horsepower rendition, for a $111,500 starting price.

All of that’s a little funny considering the utility of the six-cylinder or even the more affordable, 296-horsepower four-cylinder model, which starts at $60,600. But given the never-ending battle for big horsepower in bulky SUVs and trucks, maybe those options make sense.

Personally, after tooling around for a couple of days in the 110 – the manufacturer kindly but specifically asked me not to actually off-road the vehicle at all – I would say that 395 horsepower is really about all you need to get the most out of the Slovakian-built vehicle. Uphill power was more than adequate, and Defender is bulky enough that 65 to 70 mph seems like it’s as fast as you ever want to go.

More than I did in previous drives, including last year’s Christmas run with the just-too-big Defender 130, I noticed that inline-6 seems to take a bit of time to spool up from every start. That effect was even further accentuated by an extra-sticky electronic hold function that allows you to rest pedal-free at red lights or pause while cresting those off-road trails, should you get to do so on your own.

I opted to stick to gravel roads just east of Black Hawk and learned that even gigantic, square-edged Goodyear Wrangler off-road tires don’t do much on glaze ice when headed into the absolutely terrifyingly frozen-over Crawford Gulch Road in Golden Gate Canyon state park.

Minus the skating rink effect, the 110 is a sturdy, well-supported and comfortable way to bang along, with its optional air suspension system compensating for bumps and lumps.

As I remember from previous drives, the Defender offers fantastic off-road capability, with electrically locking differentials, updated terrain response systems and automatic speed control so you can crawl safely over pretty much any summertime trail. The digital displays to assist with wheel angles and such are also quite impressive.

Three years into it, I’ve started to get used to Defender’s moon buggy-styled interior and controls, as many new EVs’ versions are now far weirder than that on the inside. The upright, joystick-styled shift knob is still a bit of a curiosity, but the reconfigurable control panel, which switches between HVAC and off-road control modes, also makes a bit more sense.

Morning defrosting or heavy snow drives are a little easier with an electrically-heated laminated windshield, plus some of the hottest seat heaters in the business.

Defender’s rear cargo area has been given rubber mats and the backs of the second row seating is covered in faux steel plate for more burly loads – 76 cubic feet with seats dropped, 36 with seats up.

In addition to the regular 90, 110 and 130 models, there’s a new, ultra-rugged Defender 130 Outbound edition, which deletes the third-row seats for 89 cubic feet of space and adds an ominous matte-colored paint job. It shares the same hybridized inline-6 engine as my 110.  

Andy Stonehouse’s column Mountain Wheels publishes Saturdays in the Summit Daily News. Stonehouse has worked as an editor and writer in Colorado since 1998, focusing on automotive coverage since 2004. He lives in Golden.