LAND ROVER RELEASES FRESH IMAGES OF NEW DEFENDER

Land Rover has revealed new images of the muchanticipated new Defender model to mark World Land Rover Day.

The test vehicles are still wrapped in camouflage to hide the final design but clearly retain the boxy, square styling that made the original Defender instantly recognisable.

Land Rover has kept details of the new vehicle to a minimum, apart from saying that it will bring “unparalleled breadth of capability and new levels of comfort and driveability to the Defender family”.

It is understood that the new Defender will copy its predecessor with short (90-inch) and long (110-inch) wheelbases and will be the basis for a range of vehicles with different specialities.

Land Rover has been testing the new Defender in locations across the globe to measure its abilities in all conditions, pushing it through the 50-degree heat of the desert, the -40-degree cold of the Arctic, the 10,000ft altitude of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and even the twisting Tarmac of the Nürburgring.

As part of its ongoing testing Land Rover is also handing over a Defender prototype to its partner the Tusk Trust, in Kenya for use on its 14,000-hectare reserve.

The new model will be officially revealed later this year with customer deliveries starting in early 2020.