Thread: No Defenders to be made in 2015?

Looks like resale value is going to going through the roof. It pretty good at the moment, but imagine when they stop making new ones...

Originally Posted by Didge

Perhaps the time is nearly here for us to form an Aussie company to build the absolutely perfect 4wd (then again maybe we should see what Solihull does first cos they reckon its coming from there)

I reckon you guys would make a heater that works nicely at 5C, but does nothing at -25C.

Originally Posted by bacicat

You're kidding right? The new Rangie looks awful and most of the original styling cues from the Classic are fading or gone completely now. The L322 still had them, but this latest abomination is anything BUT a Range Rover IMO...

The double step down in the bonnet is almost completely gone, the line from the front number to the back is just not there any more as the front bumper goes up past the headlights now. The front of the car is curved, not block shaped like all the others. The overhang at the front is massive compared to all the others. The back tailgate is sloped heaps more than the others which makes it look more like the Sport. The tailgate also opens differently now. It is now 2/3 up, 1/3 down rather than 50/50. Cargo area has decreased and the sides of the car slope in more. There are still some small elements that are there, but it really doesn't look like a Range Rover any more.

The P38 had good lines and was a noticeable progression of the Classic, as was the L322. If you look at a Classic and an L405 it is harder to make that connection.

It means I simply will never own a Range Rover that is later than the 2012 build, they have ****ed it good and proper.

LR are slowly merging all the styling cues into one car, the new sport and 405 looks more like a pumped up Evoque. I don't hold high hopes for the Defender based on what they have done with the latest models of the RR or the Sport...

C'mon. You can't bag the 405 like that and leave out the worst bit! The side air vents that are meant to provide cooling for the brakes are built into the front doors. No reason to be there except for "styling". They make the nose look even longer exacerbating the excessive front overhang. This is my main concern about the new defender. Styling will come before practicality, form before function, the antithesis of the original 110.

Originally Posted by Loubrey

.....

Everybody is hoping though for a continued "flat pack" assembly of "classic" Defenders elsewhere in the world (most probably a developing country if rumours are to be believed)

Cheers,
Lou

I'm still assembling my flat pack classic Defender, in the shed. Although the flat packing also occurred in Sydney with the previous (now deceased) owner.

Land Rover have been saying for years that they plan to have a Defender replacement in 2015, the project has been called L660 (not the design concept vehicle DC100) and the new model is unlikely to be called Defender.

Originally Posted by the_preacher1973

C'mon. You can't bag the 405 like that and leave out the worst bit! The side air vents that are meant to provide cooling for the brakes are built into the front doors. No reason to be there except for "styling". They make the nose look even longer exacerbating the excessive front overhang. This is my main concern about the new defender. Styling will come before practicality, form before function, the antithesis of the original 110.

Ha ha, woops, I forgot that clanger...! I did use this emoticon though -

That sort of sums it up though...

Originally Posted by Dougal

I reckon you guys would make a heater that works nicely at 5C, but does nothing at -25C.

Just priced it for those in the "Land of wrong white crowd" or that place that is beyond the land down under - it's gonna cost you guys over there an extra $2,500 and we'll even thrown in some nice lambswool seat covers

Originally Posted by Didge

... and we'll even thrown in some nice lambswool seat covers

Surely the kiwis would prefer possum fur seat covers?

Originally Posted by isuzurover

Surely the kiwis would prefer possum fur seat covers?

You have no idea how awesome they would be. Possum fur is serious luxury.

BTW, we pay a shed-load more than $2,500 more than aussie (exchange rate adjusted) for the same vehicles. We get rogered in this country for vehicles and parts.