New Defender, 2020

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
I just showed the Richard Hammond video to my wife and she just instantly doesn’t like it. Called it a Kia. Started ranting about how bad the front end is. Looked up the UK press and comments about it and started laughing at how badly reviewed it is already. Declares she will not buy one. And finished up with wondering why they didn’t just fix it by calling it the new Discovery.

I went outside and changed the fuel filter on the Defender and marveled at how fresh and timeless the front end looked.

I’m afraid this may ruin Rover in the end. It was a nice try, but McGovern ruined it, I’m sure. In fact, the more I look at it, the more confident I am that he dictated that front end and the overboard technology. The vehicle is actually a Frankenstein mashup of what subordinate designers tried to do, and (versus) what McGovern demanded. As if the DC100 and Freelander were so much his babies that I can imagine him throwing tantrums till he forced that stupid face on what might have been a good design otherwise.

I could live with the suspension and underbody architecture and the updated looks. And actually, I could be OK with it as the LR5. But I’m going to have to pass on this vehicle due to the extreme over reliance on the computers and that front end.

Here’s hoping the facelift in the coming years (the new Defender already feels dated) will fix that sad front end, and that the technology proves to be more robust than all of us could imagine.

I would not be surprised if McGovern walked away from Rover now that he got his way.
 

rocky

NAS-ROW Addict
A $35k Defender in 1995 would cost $59,000 today adjusting for inflation. The difference in spec between the future 110 and the original is incredible.
 

mgreenspan

Founding Member
A $35k Defender in 1995 would cost $59,000 today adjusting for inflation. The difference in spec between the future 110 and the original is incredible.
Agree with inflation, but conceptually disagree. With advancements in technology and manufacturing the cost should go down over time. So if we are talking differences in spec and they cost the same then sell me the old one for half the cost because I don’t care about all the wizardry. It costs too much because they insist on putting a ton of crap into it. That 70 series Land Cruiser pickup costs the same as the inflation adjusted Defender 90. Maybe they should have just kept the old one going... clearly there is a market.
 

javelinadave

Administrator
Staff member
Talking with a friend, he was concerned that the new Defender would negatively impact the price of the Classic Defender. My opinion is that the clapped out pieces of shit that are being imported here (by both speculators and the crappy lipstick on a pig operations) are killing the prices NOW and the new Defender will have minimal effect. A majority of people who would buy the new Defender would never put up with the constant fixing, leaking, rattling, etc of the Classic Defender.

Here is the crustiest, still driving Defender I have ever seen:
https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/cto/d/mesa-1993-land-rover-defender-110/6965331445.html
 

bearskinrug

Well-known member
Any confirmation that the work truck version will come to the US? I’d hope that version would come loaded with less electronics. Who’s brave enough to buy a “rolling supercomputer” manufactured by Land Rover, especially in the first year of production?
 

mgreenspan

Founding Member
Sales numbers for the old one in the last years were not good; 17K a year with a blip up in the final year because they were going away.
I’m thinking stateside specifically. There are far too many better options overseas than a Defender: Hilux, Land Cruiser, Navarro, Ranger, D-Max, L200, Jimny, Amarok, etc. hence their ever dwindling sales.
 

rocky

NAS-ROW Addict
I’m thinking stateside specifically. There are far too many better options overseas than a Defender: Hilux, Land Cruiser, Navarro, Ranger, D-Max, L200, Jimny, Amarok, etc. hence their ever dwindling sales.

And if all of those had been around when Land Rover was created out if the rubble of WW2, I don't think LR would have survived long.
 

brdhmltn

Well-known member
I think they should have called them the 105 and the 116. Wait 4 years and then if they deserve it call it the Defender and give every owner a free badging. I think all the negatives thrown at this vehicle pretty much go away if it isn't called a defender. I think it's much more the ultimate version discovery.
 

WreckITFrank

Technical Excellence Contributor
Cool render. need a quad cab though.

Screenshot_20190913-101919_Firefox.jpg
 

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ

Seems interesting. But I have to wonder if the Professor might have to scold Eberhardt when he hears what he says here.

I'm still very skeptical of the ultra digital Defender. They may have vastly improved the electronics over the years, and especially with this model, but it seems like a big risk when you consider just how easy it would be to simply lose power for one reason or another.
 
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