After 63 years, motoring icon changes gear

HAVING passed its 63rd birthday, one of our best-known and most rugged icons is undergoing its first major makeover.

A favourite of farmers and the military, the Land Rover Defender has changed little since its launch in 1948, with two million have rolling off production lines since then.

The all-new version will be launched in 2015, and the first images of the DC100 concept car, on which the new model will be based, have been released. The DC100 will debut on 13 September at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Already the new model is creating interest. Alan Morrison, a director of Land Rover dealer Morrisons of Stirling, said a number of customers had been calling to ask about it.

“The Defender is still hugely popular and a great seller. We’ve had a few customers on the phone today who have seen images of the new design and want to know more. It shows the level of interest out.”

According to the manufacturer, the new version is a “modern reinterpretation” of the Defender, while capturing the “adventurous, indomitable spirit” established by the Series 1 in 1948.

It has adopted a more trendy “urban” approach, shunning right-angles for a more curvy look. Gerry McGovern, Land Rover’s director of design, said the concept car was the beginning of a four-year journey to design the new model. “Replacing the iconic Defender is one of the biggest challenges in the automotive design world; it is a car that inspires people worldwide,” he said

The first 1948 Land Rover was made from aluminium and had sage green paint acquired from a fighter plane factory.

The original models were known as the farmer’s friend due to their strength and durability. It is estimated that two-thirds of all the vehicles made are still in use, many of them in inhospitable locations.

As well as the armed forces, the vehicles have been used by countless organisations including the Born Free Foundation and the Royal Geographical Society, while it was also a star of the Tomb Raider film.

The Defender name was first used in the early 1990s, shortly after the launch of the Discovery.

The vehicle, which costs £16,000-£25,000 plus VAT at present, has a loyal following among Land Rover enthusiasts and car clubs.

It even has a Facebook page dedicated to it that says: “The Land Rover Defender, it’s a hero! Since 1948 (The Series One Model) the Defender has kept going and even though Land Rover is now owned by Indian based company Tata, the Defender still stands as one of the strongest and long lasting British vehicles ever made.”

The concept car, has had a mixed reception on various car forums, with some questioning whether it’s the sort of vehicle farmers would want to be loading their sheep into the back of.

But Simon Ward-Hastelow, editor of Land Rover World, was more positive about the forthcoming model, saying there had never been a “dud’’ Defender.

He said: “Land Rover faced an impossible problem: how to redevelop a vehicle that is recognised the world over but also make it applicable to the modern world with ever tighter rules and regulations.

“The next-generation vehicle was never going to please everyone, but I’d happily bet the house on the fact that it will be a very capable off-road vehicle and still be tough enough to be used and abused as a tool.”