Transform your new Discovery’s rear end

THE OFFSET rear plate on the new Discovery has certainly split opinion. Did Gerry Mcgovern leave that bit to the office junior? Apparently not, as he was quoted by Autoexpress as saying: “You know what part of the problem is with that offset plate? It depends on what number plate you put on it. And it was designed for a slimmer number plate.”

The asymmetry might be a deliberate nod to the Discoverys of the past, but the number plate was offset on those old Discos for a practical reason, with the other side of the tailgate taken up by the spare wheel, and on the new one without that, well, it just looks, odd.

Fortunately if you fancy a new Disco, but can’t look beyond the rear plate, a vehicle body shop in Nottingham has the answer. For £1200, East Mids Customising will carry out a rear number plate conversion, which according to their advert on Facebook ‘will totally transform the car’.

Founder Lee Percival told us: “This modification has by far had the most attention and positive feedback we’ve ever had. We saw there was a problem with the new Discovery when it first came out and know how many people it was putting off buying one and wanted to find a solution. Hopefully now, owners will actually like everything about their Discovery.”

East Mids Customising also does damage repairs, restorations, modifications and custom paintwork, including resprays and airbrush artwork. Go to @eastmidscustomising on Facebook or Instagram, or call 07393 291022.

This isn’t the first time an aftermarket company has come up with a solution. Last year German tuners Startech designed an insert for the tailgate that squares off the lines of the rear end and centres the plate.

A future midlife facelift may include centring the number plate, but in the meantime, tuning companies are making a living out of fixing Land Rover’s embarrassing design ‘problem’.