'Viral' Instagram Discovery Evolution Pic FIXED

[A.J.M]

I disagree.

I feel the new Defender is exactly what a modern Defender should be.
It’s got plenty of nods and touches from the older models.

But. It’s designed to be relevant in a modern age where the rules and regulations have changed massively.

It will go pretty much anywhere in the world, like the old one did.

 

[DieselRanger]

To an extent you're correct. The LR3 came with much more equipment as standard (relative to the tech that was available for its time) when compared to the D5. The new D5 doesn't even come with a low-range or center locker in base trim. By the time you get a D5 to those levels, we see a price delta. Also, you're flat out wrong about the D1. Base MSRP in 1996 was $29,950, or around 46-47k today. Furthermore, the Bronco was 23k for a base truck or 28k for an Eddie Bauer, which is what you'd need to get if we're comparing the Bronco to a luxury SUV (one could argue that a base D1 SD wasn't that luxurious). Bottom line, I still believe the D5 is too expensive.

The average sale price for a D1 was about $35k in 1995, the average sale price for a D2 was about $45k in 1999, then year dollars. Today that's about $58k and $70k, respectively.

Sure, you could get stripper models then as you can today - and true, you don't get a low range standard on the D5. The Landmark edition of the D5 comes in at $58,300 with a low range gearbox and no lockers. But the price point that people are buying them is about the same with inflation factored in, and at those prices the tech offered is comparable to what they offered then (but improved), and about as much as the first owner will use in the time they own it. Those who want a Disco - or a new Defender for that matter - and who want it for what they can do, are paying for them now as they did then.

Land Rover hasn't been an "average" priced vehicle for a very long time, and they are a niche, low-volume automaker - people don't wander in to a Land Rover dealer like they might a Ford or Jeep dealer just to see what's on the lot - a little less than half my dealer's volume is special orders, and while we aren't a particularly wealthy town we do have our share of money.

I remember the first generation Explorer and Nissan Pathfinder and later the XTerra, which was a blatant rip off of the Discovery design. I used to drive a Blazer ZR2 off road for work in the back of nowhere in Nevada, others drove Expeditions as off-road fleet work vehicles when they were just out. I would drive none of those where I used to work if I had today's models, or even the last of the ones that have gone extinct, save the XTerra. But I would not hesitate to drive my D5 there, given a good set of tires.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T337A using Tapatalk

 

[morrisdl]

I disagree. I feel the new Defender...

When are we all going to just call it Defender 2. It will certainly not be a 30 year body style, and before we know it there will be a Defender 3. Had LR marketed it as "Defender ii", maybe would have gone over better with the traditionalist. Just like "series ii" and "Discovery 2,3, and 4".

 

[A.J.M]

The old one only became a 30 year bodystyle because LR couldn’t make up their mind on how to replace it.
It also only got forced to change parts when they couldn’t get it though regulations.
Tdi became the td5, then tdci. Only when forced to.

Given they had 2 ideas in the 90s alone for how to do it, they were going to change it much earlier.

Plus, look at how often the competition got changed to meet the demands of the market..
offering an 80s design with a van engine in 2010 onwards... is that really all we could hope for with the model?

It’s called Defender. Not defender 2 or whatever.