New Defender Concept
- Thread starter Heady Expedition
- Start date
LtFuzz
Explorer
I wonder about that.
If they offer it here in a more reasonable trim package, with a turbo-diesel... would you spend your $35-$40k (assuming it's in that price range... base model LR4 is what, $44k?) on a brand new, never-offered-before-in-the-US diesel Defender?
Or a 20 year old, long in the tooth 300TDI? Or worse, a 10 mpg relic of pre-bubble 1990s obsolescence?
Interesting scenario. A new NAS Defender TD will either make or break the used Defender market, that's for sure. How many up-market Defenders (i.e. those commanding more than >$40k) are being bought and sold by enthusiasts?
I have a feeling that disposable toy income will head towards the latest and greatest.
Defenders hold their value not because they're that awesome but because they simply can't be had. The $10k-$25k trucks will continue to be traded around the community... but look at the FJ Cruiser. It wasn't just hardcore Toyota owners buying those. I think Land Rover is going after that market -- 25-40 year old males looking for a flashy, capable truck as their 1st 4x4 purchase. Throwing in a 50-state legal TD would sweeten the deal. Young Americans are more conscious about gas prices than ever before. The entry-level 4x4 crowd reads these forums, too, and all they read is how awesome diesels are. Volkswagen sells their TDI Jettas and Jetta Sportwagen TDI to the young professional market like crazy. Hell, my ex-wife just bought a Sportwagen TDI because she "didn't want to be a Prius driver". Mm, perfect. I have some money, I care about mpgs, I want to be a little exotic....
Time it right, style it to appeal to that audience (who don't give a flying ******k about old Defenders) and release just as we're pulling out from our recession...
Might be a hit. Easy to hate the styling, but what's good for Land Rover is inevitably good for us.
Last edited:
now you're getting personal... but the truth hurts sometimes.
despite the state of the domestic and worldwide economy, cash (especially new cash) will almost always opt for flash.
Heady Expedition
River Rat
3 defenders?
I'd say you're already rich if you're keeping them all on the road hahaha
maxingout
Adventurer
You make a good point. Two of them are in storage, and one of them is registered and ready to go. The ones in Australia and New Zealand are kitted out and ready to go if I get them out of storage and put backin registration. Even storage isn't cheap if it is secure.
Sometimes I think I am crazy, and other times I know that I am crazy. I don't know what it is about Defenders. Defenders do a mind trip on me. Whenever I get in one and drive, I somehow feel better about my life. When I get behind the wheel of a Defender, I am instantly transported to East Africa or the sand dunes of the Empty Quarter of Arabia.
http://www.maxingout.com/wwsd.htm
![Freedom-Defender[1].jpg](http://www.maxingout.com/Freedom-Defender[1].jpg)
I'm one-hundred percent sure that if now was the the year 1800, I would be packing my Conestoga wagon and heading toward the setting sun to explore the western expanses of North America.
In my first sixty years, I have owned two Toyota Landcruisers, five Defender Land Rovers, three monohull sailboats, and one catamaran. All of these conveyances were my 21st century Conestoga wagons that made it possible to live my dreams.
My catamaran made it possible to sail around the world on the ocean of my dreams.
The Landcruisers made it possible to explore Mexico, all of Central America, and Puerto Rico. The Defenders made it possible to explore Saudi Arabia, Oman, the Emirates, and the outback of Australia. I still have two Defenders ready to drive from Cape Town to Cairo and from Buenos Aires to Alaska.
For me, the dream is all about adventure, freedom, and being really alive. Although I like seeing the sights wherever we go, I think it's the sense of adventure coupled with the freedom to do what I want to do with my life, seasoned with a pinch of adrenalin that makes it all worthwhile. It doesn't matter whether I drive down a hundred foot sand dune, sail through pirate alley, or voyage across an ocean, I still get the feeling that I am really alive and am accomplishing something that's important to me. I'm living my dreams, and although it's a lot of work, costs lots of money, and spends the currency of my youth, that doesn't matter, because I'm doing what I want to do with my life as I live without regrets.
On the wall in front of my desk, I have a graphic emblazoned in large red letters:
WWSD
Those letters mean, WHAT WOULD STEVE DO?
I've always admired Steve Irwin from the Australian Zoo and his outrageous ability to get the most out of life. Whenever I feel like chickening out and surrendering my dreams, I look up at my WWSD sign, and I remind myself that if Steve was still here, he would be living his dreams, and that there's no reason that I shouldn't be living mine.
It's my dreams that get me up in the morning and keep me going all day long. It's my dreams that keep me sailing, and someday will take me around the world in my Land Rover Defenders. Every time I go out sailing on the seven seas and travel in my Defenders, I can feel the freedom bubble up in my heart and mind.
Once you have a taste of freedom and live your dreams, you are hooked for life, and nothing else will do.
![Feel-the-freedom-788[1].jpg](http://www.maxingout.com/Feel-the-freedom-788[1].jpg)
Last edited:
NOMADIC_LJ
Explorer
Beautiful post ^^^^
REDROVER
Explorer
what a hell is that? its a joke, if that's gonna be the new defender with less approach angle than my mamas bmw, then i am sorry free is to much for that, doesn't mater if it has land rover name.
may be those stipid land rover designers have to join forums like this one, to see what real land rover guys think of the **** they keep making or planing to make
they already lost my family and few of my friends as costomers. ( junk lemon cars )
ERIC
may be those stipid land rover designers have to join forums like this one, to see what real land rover guys think of the **** they keep making or planing to make
they already lost my family and few of my friends as costomers. ( junk lemon cars )
ERIC
Rocket Ship
Banned
Love the sonar depth-finder! :snorkel:
Best business decision Dave ever made was to buy the project off the Bowler bros. :Wow1:
NOMADIC_LJ
Explorer
As a stand alone vehicle its actually a pretty interesting design. If it was announced as a replacement for the freelander I could see it being an upgrade.
As a replacement for the iconic Defender line? I think not
Red90
Adventurer
No, it is a discussion about a Defender replacement. The main target should be to produce the best production off road vehicle on the market. All other goals should fall below that. It needs to be better than a Rubicon, 75 series cruiser, patrol, g wagen....
roverrocks
Expedition Leader
There is no way that LR is going to produce a new Defender that is better off road than a Rubicon or a G Wagon with their lockers. LR just isn't going to do it even though they could. Just producing a new Defender that isn't poorer off road than the current model and has solid axles would be a victory for off road LR enthusiasts. One that is amendable to modifications would be a victory. One that has a modicum of Defender tradition would be a victory. One coming to NA would be a victory. But.....I'm afraid none of this will happen even remotely. The Defender is a very dead issue. The tradition is dead and isn't coming back. It's an urban world and that's where the Defender name is headed if at all. If any of us want a Rubicon like truck we will have to buy a Rubicon. Hopefully the Rubicon won't be as dead as the Defender in a decade or two.