Well its finally here, and proves that Land Rover still does one thing the best... A new model launch.
I like Henry’s bit about how many times Land Rover attempted to fully replace the Defender previously, and if those had all gone through this would seem a fairly progressive step. Apart from, the usual UK journalist naivety about off road driving - “3 days on rough roads and no warning lights” 3 days! - I enjoyed the video.
For a take from a market where off road vehicles reguarly get used as such.
I think overall Land Rover can be pretty pleased with themselves. There is some solid engineering in this thing, and plenty of silly stuff too (the puddle lights...), but I think they’ve pretty much nailed it in terms of desirability, usability and actual ability. We all have our own thoughts on what it should have been, but at the end of the day it has to sell, and in decent numbers too. We should all be glad there is another proper off road choice out there now, and not worry about if it has live axles.
My mate The Accountant is already eyeing one up for used purchase in a few years time. I think that actually the update, or whatever the next evolution of this one is will probably be the one to have. Once they’ve refined this concept a bit further and hopefully, man-up, the styling a bit.
Yes, it is basically a Discovery. It reminds me very much of the original Discovery in concept.
With all the talk of it sharing so much of its underpinnings with other vehicles in the Land Rover range, let’s not forget that when they launched that first Disco, it shared most (all) of it’s underpinnings with the Range Rover, which by that stage the Defender was basically copying too, albeit with some detail differences. The more things change...
However an extension of the (true) Discovery lineage is surely no bad thing. Much has been made of JLR’s woes in recent times. With all sort of reasons offered as to why the company is suffering, I think the explanation is pretty simple. They screwed up the D5 monumentally, and their main volume seller, hasn’t... I swear I still see more D4's around than D5's.
I’ve been a bit quiet on the adventuring front of late. A few health issues have needed working through, mostly sorted now. I was actually packed and ready to take the bike and BOB trailer camping last weekend, but something didn’t feel quite right about it, so I didn’t go. Strange, for me?
Anyway, it was probably the right choice, as I went for a biggish ride without the trailer and my fitness probably wasn’t were it needed to be. So it was the right decision in the end.
I was hoping the ride the Mawson Trail later this year, so it was kind of training for that. Who knows if that is still on though...?
Luckily I still have a job at the moment, and will start working from home this week. I hope everyone is doing ok out there. Cheers.