All new version of Land Rover Defender will be out this year

be approaching the size of the previous Discovery generation which was an awesome load carrier.

“Both models will be based on a new mediumsized MLA platform which the Defender will eventually share with its Discovery stablemate.

“The company has also stated that the Defender range will be expanded to rival that of rival, Jeep - so what is revealed this year may only be the start.”

And what about what’s under the bonnet? Although original Land Rovers were petrol-powered, the Defender went on to be most commonly associated with diesel engines.

But Mike believes electrification will be on the agenda. “With its commitment to lower emission vehicles, expect various levels of electrical power ranging from mild hybrids like the new Evoque to full-blown EVs,” he said.

“Power will also come from Jaguar Land Rover’s Ingenium range of engines currently built in Wolverhampton and China.

“This modular power unit is capable of being built in a variety of sizes from a 3-cylinder 1.5-litre slated to provide power for hybrid models through to a 6-cylinder 3.0-litre - expected to replace the current Fordsupplied V6s.

“One intriguing possibility is a 5-cylinder, 2.5litre variant echoing the TD5 of 1998, regarded as one of the Defender’s better power units.”

Something that is certainly likely to upset purists is if the new Defender is not built in its spiritual home of Solihull.

Although Jaguar Land Rover has yet to announce where it will be produced, Mike is convinced it will be built in the company’s new factory in Slovakia.

He said: “In a move that will outrage some traditionalists, the new Defender will be built in the new, Brexit-proof Jaguar Land Rover factory in Nitra, Slovakia.

“This brand new facility has a stated capacity of up to 150,000 vehicles a year and is about to produce the Discovery, uprooted from Solihull.

“Most of the company’s suppliers are EU based or have factories there and in the event of a hard Brexit, it’s feasible that engines could come from China on new cargo rail links.”

So, when are we likely to get our first proper look at it?

Mike suspects it will be a drip-feed process.

“Jaguar Land Rover isn’t appearing at the Geneva motor show this year but Frankfurt in September will be harder to resist,” he said.

“But Jaguar Land Rover likes to manage the message - so the new Defender is likely to be revealed in a tightly-controlled series of press events rather than in the traditional ‘pull the rag off the car’ debut in front of a milling throng of hacks.

“Either way, it looks like a trip to Birmingham’s partner city will be a good way to get up close to the new model.”

And ultimately how is it likely to be received?

While Mike believes there will be plenty of die-hards who won’t like it, he has confidence in the design team to pull it off. He said: “The company has created a problem for itself in elevating the Defender to iconic status - for icons are difficult to replace.

“There will doubtless be some flat earthers who will dislike the new generation almost on principle but I’m betting that Gerry McGovern and his team have produced a model to fill the big boots left by earlier generations. As someone whose career has been dominated by an association with the Defender, I can’t wait to see it.”