DID LAND ROVER BUTCHER THE DEFENDER?
THE vehicle that most closely resembles the spirit of the original Land Rover Defender is the Suzuki Jimny; it provides prodigious offroad capabilities with little power and almost no embellishments.
The charm of the Jimny is in its simplicity and staying true to its purpose of being a lightweight, affordable off-road machine that almost anyone can operate.
It is a beast that you don’t mind getting dirty and scratched, and not because you love it any less, but because every dent and every scratch is worn like a medal of honour, a reminder of good times spent together.
The original Defender was exactly that. We had stories for every little mark we made on the car and neither the driver nor the vehicle was offended by the imperfections.
The new Defender is probably an accomplished off-road vehicle and would qualify to wear the Defender name, but it doesn’t look like something that the The First Expeditionary Force would ride to the battlefront.
It looks like Sylvester Stallone in a tuxedo. It has all the capabilities but the clothing is wrong.
Sure, with metal bumper skid plates, bull bars and side defenders, knobby tyres, long travel coils and hose-down plastic interior, this could work and we will probably see how it looks as an action vehicle in the next James Bond movie, but it doesn’t feel right.
Is it because it has too much history? I mean, the Toyota Land Cruiser is the most expensive vehicle that Toyota
sells, if you don’t count the Toyota Century. In the United States, it retails for about US$100,000 as a base model, which makes it a competitor for the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, price wise.
But somehow, the Land Cruiser feels like it has stayed true to the spirit of Land Cruisers.
It looks like they never so much as allowed a designer near that car until all the engineering work has been done and all that’s left to do is just round out some corners and choose nice colours for the paintwork and interior.
Even the interior of the Land Cruiser is like an accidental luxury.
Perhaps by following the spirit of the Land Cruiser, Toyota has come up with a product that remains hard to love based on looks alone, whereas Suzuki has distilled the cuteness and charm of an unlikely little mouse and made it relevant and stylish for today, whereas the Defender has come out looking too good. And I resent it.
The nose is blunt, the front and rear overhangs are nearly imaginary, the ride height is tall enough for limbo dancers to pass under without too much effort, the fording depth is enough to drown people and the Alpine windows on the rear is so stylish you can go out
wearing a worn-out cardigan and still look good in Knightsbridge.
Most importantly, I can imagine Aunt Liz driving up Balmoral Estate in one of these in her Wellingtons.
The sad truth is, for me at least, the Defender looks almost like a hipster vehicle, and intentionally so, whereas the Jimny or Jeep Wrangler or the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen look either cute, old fashioned or like a retired general who’s found a second wind in hip hop.
The Defender is best viewed broadside, where it retains most of the original stance and spirit.
We can see the strong and straight shoulder line, the boxy windows, the small rear windows on the 110 and the previously-mentioned Alpine windows above the rear section.
The raised bonnet is obvious and the spare tyre perched on the rear swing door is a nice retro touch.
The cabin has hints of a utilitarian past but it’s mostly covered in leather or soft-touch materials.
The loss of rigid axles will be lamented by serious off-roaders, but then again, they are easy to retrofit if you have a serious expedition to mount.
The car can carry 900kg in the load area, 300kg on the roof rails and cans tow 3.5 tonnes, so it doesn’t lose out in expedition abilities.
I just wish that they had made it a bit less handsome and less pricey. It starts at £45,000, which is very near the top of BMW X3 money.
So, no. Land Rover didn’t butcher the Defender but it has gentrified it and driven it out of reach of those who would have real use for it. Shame really.