Action on all fronts for British brand’s 21st century hero
Seventy-one years is the difference between a Spitfire and a Mars lander. It’s also the timespan between the original Land Rover and the Gen Z successor that will drive the Defender deeply into the 21st century.
In 1948, the original Land Rover was more like a horse than a car. It could pull a plow, work a warm, fight in far-flung battlefields and carry the mail.
Today, as a new British Bulldog completes the re-imagining of what became known as the Land Rover Defender, everything but the name is new.
“Just remember one thing. The new Defender had to be designed for a world that’s changed beyond recognition,” said Land Rover design chief Gerry McGovern as he introduced the all-new Defender at last week’s Frankfurt motor show.
“We’ve come from the jungle and now we’re operating in the urban jungle.”
So the new Defender looks much softer than the original, but it’s bigger by every measurement and also certain to be nicer to drive.
Still, the looks are deceiving, even when a set of steel wheels is bolted to the most basic version of the new Defender line-up, and so is the adoption of a monocoque body and the rejection of a manual gearbox and even a ute version.
Land Rover says — no, believes — the new Defender is the most capable vehicle it has ever put on and off the road. It has all sorts of numbers to back the claim, from its steep 45-degree climbing capability to its huge 900mm wading depth.
Talking to the Land Rover experts in Frankfurt, with McGovern sketching the scene and technical chief Nick Rogers filling in the detail, it’s hard not to be swept along with their enthusiasm.
McGovern says he got more than 90 per cent of the items on his wish list. Rogers says the Defender story tracks back to after-hours meetings on his kitchen table.
’This is a hero vehicle. It’s a f*#@ing hero vehicle. We don’t want to water it down,” says McGovern.
But everything the pair says, and all the words from the rest of the Land Rover crew in Frankfurt and at headquarters in the UK, boils down to the same thing: No-one wants to get the new Defender wrong.
1. Modern design
Some people say the new Land Rover Defender looks more like a Discovery than the original from 1948.
They are slightly right, but it comes down to modern safety regulations versus the rough-and-ready approach in the tough times after World War II.
Defender 2 has a monocoque chassis and a flat floor, is designed for hybridisation, and — although no-one confirms it — perhaps even fully-electric propulsion.
The short overhangs and spare tyre on the back door tell you everything about the honesty of the design.
Inside, there are predictable display screens but the auto shifter is up on the dash to provide better front-seat access and avoid water.
Land Rover teased the world with its DC100 concept cars as it began work on Defender 2, but McGovern says all the design team learned from them was “how not to do it”.
2. It works
Climb. Wade. Tow. The new Land Rover Defender can do it all, even if its dual-range transmission and locking differentials are tied to a modern eight-speed automatic — no manual now — that will polarise fans.
It’s been created to go seriously off-road, with a 38-degree approach angle, 28 degrees on the break-over and 40 for departure. The wading ability is 900mm, although that’s conservative because of US legal restrictions on what you can call a ’snorkel’.
Towing in Australia is limited to 3.5 tonnes, although it’s 3720kg elsewhere, and that’s better than mid-size utes with the bonus of a 900kg payload even without a ute tray on the back.
“If you can get the front wheels onto an obstacle it will climb over it. It can defy physics,” says Rogers.
3. Three seats up front
It’s not an old-school bench, but having a third perch in the front makes the 2020 Land Rover Defender 90 a genuine workhorse.
Land Rover says it passes all safety tests without a separate airbag, although it has no crash data to share, and has engineered a proper lap-sash belt for the position. It’s all aimed at achieving a maximum five-star ANCAP crash safety rating and includes AEB and ABS.
The Defender 90 and longer-wheelbase Defender 110 offer a choice of five, six or seven seats, but there is no real explanation for why it cannot be had with eight via the three-spot front layout in the 110. Marketing, perhaps?
The various seating options mean — with the shift lever up and out of the way — walk-through capability from both sides and, with two buckets, into the front.
Luggage space has not been ignored, with a total of 2380 litres overall or 1075 with the back seats up for passengers.
4. Price positioning
The base price for the new Land Rover Defender 110 is set at $70,000 in Australia, which is not cheap when the last of the originals were driven out the door for about $40,000 after production ended in 2016.
But there is a lot of extra technology and equipment for 2020 and beyond, even if steel wheels will be a no-cost option.
Various hints on Defender 90 pricing put it somewhere between $55,000 and $60,000 as a starter, with the lower figure more likely.
Jaguar Land Rover Australia is still working on equipment levels — S, SE and HSE — but there is some tasty stuff including a new 360-degree camera package that can create a virtual view of the car in its location, which will be a bonus for off-roading. Another can also create an underwater picture of the ground beneath the vehicle.
5. Lots of accessories
Like the latest Jeep Wrangler, the new Land Rover Defender is winch-ready and has rubber floor mats and real mud flaps.
The genuine accessory total is already over 100 pieces, including ‘saddle bag’ bins that hang from the sides, a load-through panel for the rear side window, a roof rack that can handle 180kg and wheel sizes up to 22-inch.
Design work on the factory extras is impressive, particularly the way the ladder to the roof is fitted and operates, and the engineering of various side steps and protection rails. If you can think of something, the JLR team has probably done it.
But there is nothing on the driving-light front, because of regulatory restrictions in the USA, and no talk yet of roo bars, which means there will still be plenty of scope for aftermarket equipment once the first Defenders land next year.
Keyword: Five reasons to love the new Land Rover Defender