Is this heavily camouflaged car the new Defender?

COULD this be the new Land Rover Defender being tested in Warwickshire?

It might not look like it but the heavily disguised vehicle is thought by some to be the longawaited replacement for Land Rover’s best-known model.

It was spotted by reader Darren Vel Satis in Newbold Terrace, Leamington, last week.

Jaguar Land Rover regularly tests prototypes of forthcoming models before they are launched.

They can often be seen close to the Coventry car maker’s research and development facility in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

They are generally heavily camouflaged in order to keep what they look like a secret until they are officially unveiled - frequently at an international motor show.

Sometime they are ‘mule’ cars, which bear little if any resemblance to the actual vehicle being tested.

Such mules are cobbled together, sometimes from odd or unmatching parts.

The effect often acts as a smokescreen disguising what the actual vehicle underneath is.

So, is the vehicle spotted in Leamington a Defender mule?

Although the structure looks more like a Range Rover Evoque, or a Range Rover Sport, it seems out of proportion and sits high off the ground, suggesting it would be a serious off-roader rather than a luxury SUV designed essentially for on-road use.

Also, it’s ‘chopped-up’ bodywork suggests it is a mule body, hiding something else underneath.

As a mule it could have been created to test the under structure, suspension and powertrain.

If it is a new Defender, it indicates where Jaguar Land Rover is in the model cycle, with fully styled prototypes, which would still be disguised, set to come later.

It has been suggested Land Rover could unveil its new Defender later this year at the Paris Motor Show.

Land Rover’s 70th anniversary Land Rover is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year and as such 2018 would offer a timely opportunity to unveil the eagerlyawaited vehicle.

Defender production came to an end at Jaguar Land Rover’s Solihull factory in 2016 after a production run that lasted 68 years.

Originally known simply as the Land Rover, it subsequently became Series I, II and II and IV before being renamed the Defender.

Based on the Wilys Jeep, which was used by the US Army in the Second World War, the Land Rover/Defender went on to become the most famous all-terrain vehicle in the world.

It has had many fans down the years, including Queen Elizabeth II, who has been pictured at the wheel of one on many occasions.

The Queen took delivery of her first Land Rover shortly after coming to the throne in 1952 and has used them ever since.

Other famous figures who have been fans include Winston Churchill, Argentinean president Juan Peron, the Shah of Persia, Marilyn Monroe and Steve McQueen. There has been speculation that, in a break with tradition, the new Defender could be made overseas.

Jaguar Land Rover recently announced it was switching production of its Discovery model from Solihull to Slovakia. Some automotive industry experts believe the new Defender shares the same platform as the Discovery and as such it would make sense to build them in the same factory.