From a body-on-frame offroader to worldwide recognition, the Land Rover Series and subsequent Defender have a legacy to carry forward into the 2020s. But the all-new Defender is anything but, morphing into a unibody SUV with more luxurious appointments than preceding generations of the British icon.
“Reimagined” is how Land Rover describes the Defender, confirming the world premiere is set for Frankfurt on September 10th at the IAA. The higher-ups even allowed the marketing division to share a glimpse of the newcomer, which has been leaked and photographed time and again by motoring magazines as well as die-hard fans.
Remember when the communications and PR director at Land Rover tweeted “how about you remove this image” and “legal team are on the way?” This is anything but communications and PR, and obviously enough, the image hasn’t been removed either. Then came the supposedly secret presentation with key specifications and the timeline for all three body styles of the Defender. A plug-in hybrid has been confirmed, and mild hybrids are also in the pipeline in order to cut back on CO2 emissions.
Last, but certainly not least, a pre-production Defender that looks as close to the series-production model as possible has been photographed without any camouflage whatsoever on the set of the next James Bond movie. Given these circumstances, Land Rover isn’t capable of keeping a secret… well, a secret. On that note, air suspension is also in the offing as well as a 3.0-liter gasoline inline-six engine for the P400.
“Order books for the unstoppable 4x4 will open at the world debut” in Frankfurt, and with a bit of luck, the first examples of the breed will be delivered either at the end of 2019 or the beginning of 2020. Those who can’t attend the IAA can watch a livestream of the reveal, starting at 09:50 CEST or 08:50 BST.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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