After months is speculation, Land Rover’s much-awaited 21st century Defender replacement has been spotted on test – though lightly disguised.
It has just started testing on open roads in camouflage ahead of going on sale in 2020.
A spokesman for the company said: ‘Jaguar Land Rover runs a wide range of engineering and technology development programmes. We are unable to comment on the specific nature of these programmes. However we can confirm that the Defender programme is progressing well and has reached an exciting stage of its development.’
The Land Rover Defender has started testing on open roads ahead of going on sale in 2020
It comes as Land Rover celebrates its 70th anniversary by attending the Paris Motor Show
The original Land Rover of 1948 was developed from a squiggled sketch in the sand
Pushed on timings, a JLR spokesman, added: ‘We can confirm that customers around the world will be taking delivery of and enjoying Defender again from 2020.’
It comes as Land Rover celebrates its 70th anniversary by attending the Paris Motor Show.
However a big question mark remains over whether the new Defender will be built in Britain, or abroad.
JLR bosses have already warned that more production could be shifted overseas in the event of a ‘hard Brexit’.
The company has invested in a massive new factory in Slovakia.
A big question mark remains over whether the new Defender will be built in Britain, or abroad
Jaguar Land Rover bosses have already warned that more production could be shifted overseas in the event of a ‘hard Brexit’ – the company has invested in a new factory in Slovakia
Speculation about the size, shape and timing of the new generation Defender – the original Land Rover of 1948 – has been rife since its production ended with a series of collectors’ special editions.
The Defender began as the original Land Rover and this year is celebrating its 70th anniversary.
Loved by the Queen, driven by Winston Churchill and adored by millions loyal drivers including soldiers of the British Army and SAS – it was launched on April 30, 1948 at the Amsterdam Motor Show.
The original Land Rover started life as a squiggle in the sand when, shortly after the Second World War, Rover director Maurice Wilks sketched out in the sand on a beach near his holiday cottage in Anglesey the workhorse vehicle he needed to replace the American army surplus Jeep he was then using.
Shortly after the end of the Second World War, Rover director Maurice Wilks sketched out the original Land Rover in the sand on a beach near his holiday cottage in Anglesey, Wales
The vehicle was needed to replace the American army surplus Jeep he was then using
So in 1948 Britain’s answer to the ubiquitous Jeep – the Land Rover – was born and launched at that year’s Amsterdam Motor Show as the world’s first mass-produced civilian 4X4 costing £450. With post-war rationing and steel in short supply but masses of aluminium around, the vehicle was initially made with the lightweight metal. The original sage-green paint was acquired from a fighter plane factory.
The first pilot pre-production model was called ‘Huey’ after its registration number ‘HUE 166’ and is fully working.
Astonishingly, some three-quarters of the 2 million Defenders ever built since then are said to be still in regular use.
Land Rover holds a royal warrant, as supplier to the royal household. The royal relationship with Land Rover goes back to 1948 when King George VI viewed the original Land Rover.
In 1948 Britain’s answer to the ubiquitous Jeep – the Land Rover – was born and launched at that year’s Amsterdam Motor Show as the world’s first mass-produced civilian 4X4
Land Rover holds a royal warrant, as supplier to the royal household. The royal relationship with Land Rover goes back to 1948 when King George VI viewed the original Land Rover
The Queen, who is regularly photographed at the wheel, took delivery of her first one shortly after coming to the throne in 1952 and has used Land Rovers ever since.
The Queen used a specially adapted one for her first world tour in 1953, Winston Churchill was given one as an 80th birthday present at his home in Chartwell, while another was used for Pope John Paul II’s tour of England in 1982.
And shortly after ending his love affair with young Princess Margaret in the 1950s, former battle of Britain pilot Group Captain Peter Townsend set off on a 57,000 mile journey around the world in his short Wheelbase Land Rover Station Wagon which he completed in 1957 and chronicled in his book ‘Earth, My Friend.’
The Queen, who is regularly photographed at the wheel, took delivery of her first Land Rover shortly after coming to the throne in 1952 and has consistently driven them ever since
Winston Churchill was given one as an 80th birthday present at his home in Chartwell
Pictured: The current version of the Land Rover Defender with historic ‘HUE’ license plate
The Defender became a regular movie star featuring heavily in the film Born Free (1966) about the story of Elsa the Lion. Defenders are still used today by the Born Free Foundation whose founder Virginia McKenna OBE was in the movie. Hollywood actor Steve McQueen was a fan. It also featured in the Angelina Jolie film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and in the James Bond movie, Skyfall.
The Defender name itself can be traced back to 1990. It was created to avoid confusion with a new Land Rover launched the previous year called Discovery.
Military versions of the Defender have seen service around the globe and the armed forces have purchased almost 200,000 variants of the UK built Land Rover with the most famous being those used by the SAS in the desert, nicknamed ‘pinkies’ after their painted camouflage colour designed to blend with the dunes.
To cheering and applause from the workforce at Land Rover’s Solihull factory near Birmingham, the final Land Rover Defender 4X4 drove off the production line in January 2016 and joined the firm’s heritage collection. A radical new generation Defender is to be launched next year.
The Defender became a regular movie star featuring heavily in the film Born Free (1966)
It featured in the Angelina Jolie film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and in the James Bond film Skyfall
To mark the final year of the classic Defender Land Rover launched a series of official special editions ranging in price from £27,800 to £61,845.
At the Frankfurt Motor Show seven years ago Jaguar Land Rover signalled how potential hi-tech replacements for the Defender would look, unveiling a macho, open-topped off-roader – codenamed DS100 Sport – designed to be as useful off-road as the trusty original. It also showed off a more fun-packed version looking like a beach-buggy, as well as a more practical workhorse version.
In January, Land Rover announced plans to ‘sympathetically renovate’ the world’s most historically significant unrestored model – one of three pre-production cars from the original Amsterdam motor show launch on 30th April 1948.
It will take the stage at the Land Rover Classic event alongside its closest modern relative – the 405PS Defender Works V8 revealed earlier this year, of which only 150 will be produced.