Thread: Land Rover shows off new Defender ‘concept’

They really need to loose the freelander style front, it looks like its been hit with the ugly stick... the rear and roof portions arent so bad, just imagine it with mud terrains and a proper roof rack. I really hope it doesn't end up with IFS, that will make a joke out of its credentials.

If Land Rover are clever, they will produce an upmarket electric everything version with multiple air bags and leather for the posers and offer a cheaper basic version with none of the glitter for people that want to use it for its intended purpose.

Hang onto your tdi, td5 and tdci defenders people, they will be in high demand!

I'm sure its just a ploy to increase the value of the Army 110s heading to auction soon...

I reckon it looks awful. Defenders are supposed to be a tough no nonsense truck made for the bush. That concept looks like a chicks car that would compete against a Rav4. To me there is no similarity between that... thing... and a Defender.

There is literally not a single aspect of the styling that I like, and I reckon having the Land Rover name on the side of it is embarrassing.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no!!!

Take a breath everyone,they are artists impressions or design drawings.I think Land Rover will do a good job with the defender. Pat

Longtime Defender owner here needing somewhere to rant.

I have had a '97 300Tdi since new and the family had a V8 County before that. I love the simplicity and functionality of my car. I think there are only a handful of things I would change in the Defender to improve the design without completely ruining the only real 4WD left on the market.

1 - Make it so the back door opens across the whole width of the vehicle. Range rover style hatch + tailgate would be awesome.
2 - Shift the driving position 1 inch away from the door for shoulder room, and remove the boxes under the front seats so rear passengers can put their feet somewhere.
3 - Give the option for a decently powered donk for those who want to tow with it.
4 - Bring back the manual dash air vents!

But I'm positive LR will screw it up. I am fully expecting the new Defender to be hybrid electric, full independent suspension, single range transfer automatic gearbox, 16" brake disks allowing only 19" rims, slanted windowed, weighed down with acoustic insulation and electronic gizmos piece of crap that only soccer mums and grey-nomad-caravan-towers would buy.

The DC100 concept just confirmed this.

Rant ends.

The salesman in me says this is great what LR are doing. You watch, the real Defender will be a rugged go anywhere vehicle that will compete directly with Toyota. LR will aim this squarely at the worker/tradie/Libyan Rebel market and we will all love it because they didn't follow the design shown here.

Good god no.

Have a look at the headline pic, if you squint it looks like a pajero 2 door.

I don't know what's under the skin but that vehicle looks to have no linear heriage connection. That vehicle is for a different market segment, ie disco.