Autocar March 25, 2020

IN THIS STRANGE new world, it doesn’t feel quite right to describe a new car as ‘vitally important’ - even one as eagerly anticipated as the new Land Rover Defender. So from that perspective, let’s describe this car as significant, both for the firm that makes it and the British car industry (yes, even if it is made in Slovakia). The old Defender was the machine that underpinned Land Rover’s off-road authenticity and, as the debate over the new look reflects, any attempt to reinvent it was going to be divisive. Still, Land Rover clearly wanted to create a true Defender, without collapsing under the burden of the name’s history. Has it managed to? Well, Matt Prior has driven the new car extensively in Namibia, and his expert opinion can be read…

I don’t know if it’s bold or reckless to launch a Land Rover in Namibia. Not because of the barrenness, what with it being the second least densely populated country on earth, having a land mass three and a half times the UK’s but only 2.5 million inhabitants. Not because the terrain is challenging and so vast that there’s a national park the size of Belgium. No, it’s because the default car of choice is a Toyota. It’s not that you don’t see Land Rovers. Walk around the capital, Windhoek, and you’ll find Range Rovers as you will everywhere money lives, but out in the wilds – and Namibia is second only to Mongolia when it comes to wilds – the Hilux is king. Namibia is a country where four in 10…

IN THIS STRANGE new world, it doesn’t feel quite right to describe a new car as ‘vitally important’ - even one as eagerly anticipated as the new Land Rover Defender. So from that perspective, let’s describe this car as significant, both for the firm that makes it and the British car industry (yes, even if it is made in Slovakia). The old Defender was the machine that underpinned Land Rover’s off-road authenticity and, as the debate over the new look reflects, any attempt to reinvent it was going to be divisive. Still, Land Rover clearly wanted to create a true Defender, without collapsing under the burden of the name’s history. Has it managed to? Well, Matt Prior has driven the new car extensively in Namibia, and his expert opinion can…

In 2017, I drove from London to Slovakia to see a piece of flat ground on which 4000 people were constructing a 300,000m2 factory that would have an output of 150,000 cars a year. The Discovery was slated for production there at the time, with Land Rover – which hadn’t announced this Defender then – staying schtum about what else would come, but it wasn’t hard to work out. Today, the Defender and Discovery, based on similar architecture, roll back to back down the same Nitra production line. Outline plans and permission does exist to double the factory’s size and output, although with where the world is at the minute, who knows when that’s likely. Replaying that drive today, consisting of mile after mile of motorway, the Discovery would probably remain the…

I don’t know if it’s bold or reckless to launch a Land Rover in Namibia. Not because of the barrenness, what with it being the second least densely populated country on earth, having a land mass three and a half times the UK’s but only 2.5 million inhabitants. Not because the terrain is challenging and so vast that there’s a national park the size of Belgium. No, it’s because the default car of choice is a Toyota. It’s not that you don’t see Land Rovers. Walk around the capital, Windhoek, and you’ll find Range Rovers as you will everywhere money lives, but out in the wilds – and Namibia is second only to Mongolia when it comes to wilds – the Hilux is king. Namibia is a country where four…

In 2017, I drove from London to Slovakia to see a piece of flat ground on which 4000 people were constructing a 300,000m2 factory that would have an output of 150,000 cars a year. The Discovery was slated for production there at the time, with Land Rover – which hadn’t announced this Defender then – staying schtum about what else would come, but it wasn’t hard to work out. Today, the Defender and Discovery, based on similar architecture, roll back to back down the same Nitra production line. Outline plans and permission does exist to double the factory’s size and output, although with where the world is at the minute, who knows when that’s likely. Replaying that drive today, consisting of mile after mile of motorway, the Discovery would probably…