DAVE PHILLIPS

The Vocal Yokel

“Is it just me or do all modern Discoverys and Range Rovers look the same?”

Well, what a year 2017 has been for Land Rover. Two new models, plus an electric Range Rover Sport and the promise of more to come. But to me they’ve all been overshadowed by the continued success story of the model they don’t even make any more.

I’m talking about Defender, of course. The year 2017 was the first since 1946 when there hasn’t been a Land Rover utility on the production line. It all began in 1947 with the prototypes and the first 80-inch Series Is in readiness for the April 1948 launch, and continued right through to January 2016 when the very last Defender rolled off the line at Lode Lane, Solihull.

I still find it hard to get my head around the fact that Jaguar Land Rover hadn’t got a replacement ready to take its place. The feeding frenzy that has seen the values of secondhand Defenders – and indeed all utility Land Rovers – shoot up over the past year or two demonstrates there was, and still is, a massive demand for these models. Somebody made a massive cock-up there.

Yes, I know that the 2017 newcomers, the Range Rover Velar and new Discovery, will deliver more profits for the bulging JLR coffers, but I would like to take this opportunity to remind the company that the main reason it sells these new-fangled vehicles in such great numbers is down to the reputation of the Defender and its illustrious Series predecessors.

It was the Defender and its ilk that made Land Rover a byword for tough, uncompromising ruggedness as well as the goanywhere spirit of adventure that the company has been very eager to exploit since the first Land Rover-based expeditions of early 1950s. When today’s customers buy one of the four Range Rover models or two Discoverys, they are buying into that lifestyle, even though the majority will never take their Land Rovers to the extremes that they were designed for. For most, it is enough to know that the Land Rover parked on their drive could take them across deserts and through jungles if they felt so inclined.

People buy cars with their hearts as well as their heads. And although a new Velar looks nothing like a Defender, it shares that all-important green oval badge. They are buying into a brand – and that brand certainly wasn’t built upon the rather bland fare that Land Rover offers in these barren Defender-free months until the new model comes along.

Right now we’re living in an automotive vacuum as we await its successor. I fully expect to see the first tantalising glimpses of the new Defender in the next month or two. That’s not based on any inside information, just stating the obvious: if Land Rover is going to unveil the Defender replacement in late 2018, the motoring press will soon be allowed a few teasing previews to whet the appetites of their readers. Hopefully LRM will be among the first. After all, our readership of genuine enthusiasts is going to be more interested than anyone.

I’m hopeful that JLR will call the new model Defender. It would be daft not to, because it is such a strong brand. Either way, I expect it to be packed with technology to make it the most capable off-road vehicle since the invention of the tank. All these will be powered by complicated electronics. Sadly, the days of simplicity are long gone.

I realise it cannot look like a facsimile Defender of old, simply because modern emissions and safety regulations won’t allow it. But I hope it looks more like the outgoing model than the 2017 Discovery did. I had to laugh when JLR insisted on not naming the fifth-generation model the Discovery 5. They were trying to distance themselves from the outgoing models, but they needn’t have bothered. The slanty little windows and restricted all-round vision mean that nobody will ever mistake new Discovery for its unique and distinctive ancestors.

What is it with wee Gerry Mcgovern and his design team? Why are they intent upon creating Land Rover models that look nothing like Land Rovers? Is it just me, or does everybody have to look twice before they can positively identify which model of new Land Rover is in the next lane of the motorway? To me, Discovery, Discovery Sport, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Velar all share the same bland look. I offer a silent prayer that the new Defender doesn’t share the same indistinct and undistinguished fate.

Other motor manufacturers succeed in ensuring that new models look something like their worthy predecessors. For example, modern BMW models are obviously just that. A 2017 BMW looks like a 2007 BMW looks like a 1997 BMW, etc. Meanwhile, Volkswagen and Fiat have cunningly capitalised on the heritage of the old Beetle and 500 to create modern cars that share the distinctive looks of those iconic models, but with very different modern cars under the skin.

If JLR can achieve the same magic with new Defender, 2018 will be a very happy year for me. EX-LRM Editor Dave has driven Land Rovers in most corners of the world, but loves the British countryside best