Land Rover has released some exciting new images of the all new Defender.
The iconic old model was discontinued three years ago, with Land Rover unable to meet stringent new emissions targets for the near 70-year old vehicle.
Enthusiasts of the Defender span the globe and were saddened by the move.
The much anticipated new Defender will go on sale next year. Although Land Rover has painted its prototype Defenders camouflage to disguise the finished shape, enthusiasts will be heartened by its clearly utilitarian appearance.
Land Rover has kept details of the new vehicle to a minimum, but says it will bring “unparalleled breadth of capability and new levels of comfort and driveability to the Defender family”.
It’s likely the new Defender will copy its predecessor with short (90-inch) and long (110-inch) wheelbases and will be the basis for a range of vehicles with different capabilities.
There’s no word yet on prices but rumour in the industry is it will start at around £45,000, with the most expensive models topping out at around the £70,000 mark. That slots it between the Discovery Sport and the full fat Discovery on the Land Rover roster sheet.
Land Rover has been testing the new Defender in locations across the globe to measure its abilities in all conditions, pushing it through the 50-degree heat of the desert, the -40-degree cold of the Arctic, the 10,000ft altitude of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and even the race track of the Nürburgring.
As part of its testing, Land Rover is gifting a Defender to its partner the Tusk Trust, a Kenyan based elephant conservation charity, which will use the vehicle on its 14,000 acre reserve.
The new images were released on World Land Rover Day to mark the 71st anniversary of the original Defender’s public debut at the Amsterdam Motor Show in 1948.
The new model will be officially revealed later this year with customer deliveries starting in early 2020.
jmckeown@thecourier.co.uk