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Let's just hope The Projekt Grenadier Website | Building An Uncompromising 4x4 will be more of a spiritual successor to the defender than this pretender. Also, they do take a survey which I suggest people fill out since at this point we do have a (perhaps some at most) say in what is produced!
Cheers,
-P
I’m going to be a little controversial here.
The original Defender, in whatever guise, had character. Now by character we usually mean all the little imperfections that go toward making each truck unique. For Land Rovers in particular, that came from poor build quality. We all joke about it, accept it, love it and sometimes hate it. The second part of it is that is that in order to be commercially successful Land Rover need to build cars in markets where people with money will buy them. The governments in those markets insist on things like passenger and pedestrian safety and envirocrap.
So what is Land Rover to do? In this case, not having seen the truck in person, I’d suggest they’ve done the only thing the could do- build a crashworthy, pedestrian-friendly, emissions compliant truck with excellent off-road ability and durability (the test regime was impressive) where as much of the gadgetry are optional extras. You can even mop out the floor! I suspect you will be able to tinker with the base model as much as any Land Cruiser or Pajero. No, it’s not a 79, but it also won’t be an underpowered rattletrap, vacuuming in dust like Hoover and requiring daily first aid to stay on the road, the market for which is shrinking by the day. By this time next year we’ll know if they’ve hit the mark.
Does not rock my boat but,
I wonder how many arm chair critics have put their $$ down on a new Defender or other 4WD in the last ten years. Or plan to in the next five.
These are the people LR needs to address as potential customers and more particularly those in the USA & Europe , not Australia.
Pretty much what i expected which is why i bought what i bought when i did.
I wonder that if the Defender had regular updates in its past - say every 10yrs or so, and wound up at this same point with the new release - would the purists still be complaining about it?
I can understand why it may not appeal to original owners of defender - it really needed to be a true competitor for the 79 series Toyota to be 100% true to its past. But that is such a limited market Im sure it wouldn't have been feasible. The direction they have gone makes the most sense for selling vehicles, but its basically trying to hit the same market as the previous disco.
If I could afford a new one (which I cant) I'd be up for the 130 7 seater
I can see both sides of the fence here. And in short, I've turned my opinion around.
I can see the side of old, purist live-axle 4x4 values which the brand was built on. And the modern manufacturing technology driven SUV sector. The former will sell to defence (if selected), some NGO's, the modification enthusiasts, the tourers and die-hard brand loyalists who have long embraced land rovers of old, and their problems. The latter will sell to the daily drivers turned weekend adventurers, who have no need or want for that second vehicle. And with shareholders to report to, that's the demographic that is going to have all the expendable income. While NGO's seem like they are a good use case for testing (and they are), they are not at all a good market to sell to from a business perspective. Because they all get concessions. Mining companies are no similar. Ask Toyota or Isuzu.
And being real - It is nearly 2020. Simplicity is not always a guarantee of reliability these days. Even 70 series cruisers, Jeeps & G-Wagen's have their own problems.
As enthusiasts of old tech, we are accustomed to seeing vehicles being released with a bucket load of electronic **** that we have no idea of how it works. And lets face it, we don't want to know how it works. Because it only makes us realise that what we've enjoyed for so many years is now solidly a thing of the past.
Sure, they could have made it in the same vain as the new Jimny. New tech mixed with a simple, live axle, coil sprung base. That would have been perfect. But the new defender could have been SO much worse. Or it could have never existed again. And to many, seeing the name end was a better option. I don't think so. Sure it has a load of the crap we don't like from newer models, like air suspension which makes it seem like a vehicle that is destined to only clog up cafe & posh private school car parks rather than crossing the Simpson. But critics are always going to be skeptical about every new release their beloved marque makes. This is no different because LR owners are such a stubborn bunch. (Wear it with pride)
And lastly, people underestimate the power of the aftermarket. This same worry was had by enthusiasts prior to the release of the FT86 by Toyota. Less than 5 years after, 2nd hand vehicle prices dropped drastically and the aftermarket manufacturers had created something to replace every piece of the vehicle that people didn't like. Expect the same thing to happen here.
In closing, yes - it could have and SHOULD have approached like the Jimny was. But I'm positive about what the next 10 years will bring for the vehicle.
BTW the configurator is up & running on the LR Oz site, go play, lots of expensive options
I could see this was where things were heading six years ago, so that's why I went to the G-Wagen. In the end it was Land Rover's customer service that ****ed me off so much I had to leave. Now it looks like the combination of soft-roader comfort "features" and stratospheric pricing of the new Defender will ensure the G-Professional keeps selling.
Done!Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyG
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If I had the money I'd certainly be interested!
The camp trailer / caravan in the video is the Australian designed and made Bruder EXP6. A big boost for an Australian made product!!! See www.bruderx.com
A Car mag report said prices in the UK will start at 40,000 pounds for the 90 and 45,000 for the 110, while a commercial version will start from 35,000 pounds. Will be interesting to see how they price it in Oz.
