Land Rover is continuing to explore how to approach the next generation Defender, as evidenced by this updated version of its DC100 Concept that was initially unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. The latest version features new 20-inch wheels shod with Cooper all-terrain tires and a new Heritage Blue paint scheme with a Candy Weiss roof.

Land Rover Chief Designer Gerry McGovern, who unveiled the new DC100 Concept to the Los Angeles Auto Show crowd, stressed that while the company is serious about building a new Defender, this particular concept may not be representative of the future production version. “The reality is that we’re serious about putting this vehicle into production – not necessarily this design, but a Defender into production,” he tells us. “It’s one of several design studies under consideration at the moment.”

It’s apparent that McGovern’s design team at Land Rover has struggled wrestling with rendering a modern day Defender that doesn’t abandon the model’s loyal followers. “Should it be evolutionary or should it be revolutionary? How much of the design cues based on the original functionality are relevant in a modern context? For us we feel it’s important to recognize our past but not be harnessed by it. The retro trap is one we have to be very careful of. If you’re too retrospective it can be a kiss of death.”

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Continue reading Land Rover unveils updated DC100 Concept

Land Rover unveils updated DC100 Concept originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We were all surprised when we arrived in Frankfurt a couple of months ago to find Land Rover there with not one, but two distinct versions of the DC100 concept: one hardtop and one open-air model. But when the LA Auto Show opens later this month, Land Rover is set to unveil a third version.

We don’t know how the LA show car will differ from the two we’ve already seen, or what body-style it will carry. But together with the assertion attributed to the company’s brand director that the next-generation Defender should appeal to “Californian surfer dude”, it is a strong indication that the production DC100 will be offered in North America.

That’s not who Land Rover will primarily target with the new model, however: the company aims to use the DC100 to get back in touch with its roots, marketing it to relief organizations and wilderness expeditions in the Third World.

Land Rover bringing updated DC100 Defender concept to LA originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 03 Nov 2011 11:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yesterday, Land Rover released the first image and details (however few) of the new DC100 concept it’s bringing to Frankfurt, and it carries with it the promise of the next-generation Defender – an off-roader so accomplished and so ubiquitous that calling it the Sir Edmund Hillary (or Tenzing Norgay) of automobiles wouldn’t even be doing it justice.

Now, LR has dropped a second shot of the DC100, showing us the front end and what she’ll look like traversing the old rocky road. But that’s not all we’ve got to go with. Because nature abhors a vacuum, more speculative renderings were bound to pop up, and our friends over at Kilometer magazine have stepped up to fill the void.

The Defender, you see, has long come in different bodystyles, of which the three-door hardtop form taken up by the DC100 is only one. So the KM guys have stretched out the wheelbase, added a couple of doors, even chopped the roof short to leave an open short-bed. Follow the link to check it out, and scope out the second image in the gallery for more.

Land Rover DC100 gets rendered out originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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