DiD posted the Bronco concept pic recently and I remembered that I had seen a shockingly similar concept for a new design of the Defender a while back.

As a little history lesson, BMW bought Land Rover back in the mid 90's in order to quickly get into the growing SUV craze. The mating between Land Rover and BMW was a disaster, and BMW sold Land Rover to Ford, but found a silver lining in the deal since the MINI was part of the "Rover Group" that BMW had purchased.

The Land Rover Defender has not been allowed into the U.S. since 1997 due to safety regulations that make it impossible to retrofit modern safety gear.

So now ford has a concept Bronco as well as a concept Defender for a 2-door small 4x4 to compete with the only remaining real off-roader, the Jeep Wrangler.

I wonder if they might build both the Bronco and the Defender on the same platform. Most certainly, the Rover will lose its aluminum body, which will be a sad transition, but the new Bronco concept does make it more likely that a new Defender will come along as well.

"Real Defender" guys like myself will never consider a Ford designed Defender to be anything but a shadow of its former self (Now I'm sounding like a disgruntled classic Mini owner :wink: )

So without further ado, here are the pics:

https://files.conceptcarz.com/img/la...nder238_01.jpg

https://files.conceptcarz.com/img/la...nder238_02.jpg

And a couple of the "Real Thing" in its native habitat :grin:

http://www.d-90.com/trail/iron1.jpg

http://www.d-90.com/trail/blanca/images/DSCN7091.jpg

Oddly enough I had my MINI in the same predicament...
>>
>>http://www.d-90.com/trail/blanca/images/DSCN7091.jpg

Very very interesting comparison. :eek:

>>"Real Defender" guys like myself will never consider a Ford designed Defender to be anything but a shadow of its former self (Now I'm sounding like a disgruntled classic Mini owner :grin:
http://www.eunos.com/keith/postcards...s/DSCN1213.jpg

I've owned a 1968 Series IIA Land Rover also, and you are right that a Defender is pretty cushy in comparison. I still prefer the coil springs and big V8, but I can honestly say that my series rover was very capable off-road even if it could not reach a top speed beyond 60mph.

It is actually interesting to note that there are many parts for series land rovers that are identical to the ones used in a "modern" defender. For example, the clutch master cylinder in my 1968 Series IIA is the same as my 1994 defender! I also believe that the doors are a direct fit!

Great pic of a classic 109 playing around Moab! :grin:

While on the topic, what exactly makes a stock Defender 90 better than a stock Jeep performance-wise?