Funrover did an awesome breakdown & reimagining of the DC100 vs. the Defender we all know. I highly recommend checking it out:
http://funrover.com/featured/what-makes-a-defender-iconic/
Great job guys!!
The thing I want to know is why does Land Rovers version have to look so much like a Japanese SUV?
This was a bit of a surprise tonight, I knew it was coming but figured it would be closer to the actual show. It will take some time to get used to and right away I would prefer a stronger face with less LR2 DNA. I just want to see what actually happens when 2015 rolls around, will we be getting a real utilitarian Land Rover or a cutsie Toyota.
LAND ROVER CONFIRMS ALL-NEW DEFENDER CONCEPT FOR FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW 2011
• Land Rover DC100 investigates the potential future direction of the iconic Defender
• Demonstrates the future of Land Rover capability and versatility
• Functional and purposeful design delivered by Land Rover design team, led by Gerry McGovern
• Land Rover confirms its global intention to launch a new Defender in 2015, with no current decision on whether or not the next generation Defender will come to the North American markets
MAHWAH, N.J., August, 30, 2011 – The Land Rover DC100, a modern interpretation of the iconic Land Rover Defender will make its debut at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show.
Land Rover also confirms today, that production of a new Defender is globally intended for 2015, with no current decision on whether or not the next generation Defender will come to the North American markets.
Commenting on the Land Rover DC100 concept car, Gerry McGovern, Director of Design, Land Rover said, "Replacing the iconic Defender is one of the biggest challenges in the automotive design world; it is a car that inspires people worldwide. This isn’t a production-ready concept but the beginning of a four-year journey to design a relevant Defender for the 21st century."
John Edwards, Global Brand Director, Land Rover added, "Loved the world over for its simple, honest and distinctive design, we are determined that the new Defender will be true to its heritage, while meeting the requirements of a changing global market.
"We plan to engage with existing and potential customers to help us finalize the details of the new vehicle. One thing’s for sure, it’s going to be an exciting journey, and we can’t wait to get going," added Edwards.
The Land Rover DC100 concept builds upon the essential elements of the car’s character and allows Land Rover to open the debate and inspire people to dream about the Defenders of the future. The next chapter in the Defender story will unfold at 09:15 hrs (CET) on September 13, 2011 at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Notes to editors
• Global media are invited to attend the Jaguar Land Rover Frankfurt Motor Show press conference at 09:15 CET (3:15 a.m. EST) on Tuesday, September 13, 2011. The conference takes place on the Jaguar Land Rover stand in Hall 5.
• A live webstream of the press conference will be broadcasted on www.landrover.com and www.interactivelandrover.com
• Full information on the DC100 Concept will be available on the stand and at www.medialandrover.com
A new Defender limited edition is always fun but bittersweet because I know we’ll never see it in the US, at least not in it’s current iteration. After doing a complete restore on 1971 Series IIA(www.roverhaul.com), it’s the little things on the Defender that really catch my eye. Even with 40 years separating my 1971 and this 2011, the 2011 still has visible pop-rivets – very cool! Even that “upgraded interior” – it’s just so classic Land Rover – window controls in the center!
LAND ROVER ANNOUNCES THE NEW 2011 DEFENDER X-TECH LIMITED EDITION
Not sure how it affects the utility of the Land Rover, but those wood floors look great!
Sorry there aren’t any specifics, but enjoy the pictures.
There are some great official sites where you can find just about any information you’d need for most models from the ‘90’s through today.
TOPIx – which is linked at the bottom of the landroverusa.com site and describes itself as:
TOPIx provides fast, online access to everything you need to enable you to deliver vehicle service and repair for Jaguar Land Rover customers.
The TOPIx site is great, it’s where you can find both owners manuals & service/repair info. The owners manuals are free and don’t require registration. The service/repair pages do require both registration and a subscription to the site. Anyone can get a subscription and the prices vary depending on the info you want, how many models (i.e. all Land Rovers, a single model all years or a single model for one year), and how long you want access for(1 hour, day, week, month or year). To give you an example, if you wanted to get the info for a 2008 Range Rover for 1 day, it’s $14, while all years for the New Range Rover for a day would be $23. One more example, all models & years for a day is $46.
It can really be worth the money when you need some info you just can’t find anywhere else. Like all the other sites, there’s not much thought put into the navigation design. After selecting the model & year, you have to find the link that says Owner on the far right then find the link that says Owners Handbooks on the far left. Then you’re stuck viewing a small frame on the page with the actual PDF content – lots of scrolling. If you do select there “Maximise” icon, it just opens the PDF full screen, which is annoying in another way.
I would just assume with Land Rover sending people here directly from the home page for handbooks, it may make more sense to make the handbooks/Owners section front & center
This is the site I’ve always used for Owners manuals and I think it is actually fewer clicks to the information you want when compared to TOPIx. I’m not sure why Land Rover doesn’t link to this site directly off the home page, it’s just an easier site to navigate, but it doesn’t have service/repair info.
Here too you can find all sort of documents – the 2011 Range Rover Owners Handbook does reference this site, suggest for downloading the Land Rover Off-Road Driving handbook.
Here’s where you can buy actual hard copy printed materials – lost handbooks, wiring diagrams, etc… As an example the full literature pack for a 2010 Range Rover is about $116. This site is another one with an odd user experience – after registering, you just stare at a page that says “You’ve registered”, you have to find a small link in the corner to get you back to the content page, a redirect or larger, more obvious link couldn’t hurt.
All three sites are oddly designed with pop-ups and frames; which I assume is for some kind of I.P. protection, but with a little time, everything is downloadable, so they should just give us the option of downloading the entire PDF directly instead of all the clicking and waiting for each individual chapter. On more then one occasion, I’ve had to close the window and start the process again because it just wouldn’t load a section, it gets old fast.
And even though the user interface/experience was a complete & terrible afterthought, I do thank them for putting all this info online. Now why not put a small amount of effort into it and give us direct downloads. Go check out how Mercedes-Benz does it and you’ll see how good & easy it could be.