Let's Go Beyond

Before I dive into this, I should probably do a very un-Land Rover-like thing and set some boundaries. So by now you will have understood that the question of the day is: what should the new Defender look like? This means that I will be limiting my reflections to what I think the exterior of the new Defender should look like. I will not be going off-piste with reflections on transmission, engines, suspension and all that technical jazz. JLR are well placed in these areas and Defender shall no doubt be an even more awesome beast in the terrain and on tarmac than it already is (well, it is, at least, in the former) thanks to its technical features. However, it is imperative that it should look good while doing all of that.

So this is nothing new. There already are quite a few online forums addressing the issue of the new Defender, in particular spawned by the hideousness that was the DC 100. Consequently, most comments appeared to highlight the missed opportunities and design flaws of the DC 100 but were not particularly helpful in telling JLR what we exactly want to see in the new Defender.  There were obviously voices loud enough to persuade JLR to drop the DC 100 as a Defender replacement, but did they tell them what our four wheeled companion ought to look like?  I am yet to come across a concept out there that is worth being considered a true contender for the next Defender. A quick search on the web revealed these:

 

I think that each one of these misses the point. It' s time to Go Beyond....