Some people think the Land Rover Defender went too soft when it was dragged into the 21st century. Those people will want an Ineos then, right?
WORDS OLLIE MARRIAGE PHOTOGRAPHY MARK RICCIONI
Want to know the real result of this test? Come back in 15 years. Because what Ineos needs above all else is a reputation for durability and robustness. And you can’t earn one of those overnight. A name for solidity and dependability would offset many of the coming criticisms, the price first among them.
When the team behind Ineos first went into this, I’m sure they weren’t thinking “Yeah, a £76k starting price is where we want to be”. But that’s where it’s ended up. More expensive than a new Defender for a car that’s doing no more than mimicking the old one. Tough sell. Land Rover worked out that its audience had moved on and pursued a different path with the new Defender. Well, not a new path, the same well trodden one it had forced the Discovery, Range Rover Sport et al down already. Yet another chunky seven-seat SUV selling to the same affluent, largely urban buyers. This one just had squarer edges.
So how different are these two? How similar? And next to Land Rover’s rampant self-cannibalisation, is Ineos on to something? It’s targeting a more niche buyer, the kind with an affinity for rural pursuits rather than actual agrics. They’re now wedded to their rugged, basic, VAT free pickups and quad bikes. But there’s another audience: the disillusioned Defender buyer. There are plenty out there, for whom the new Defender is too prissy and precious, has moved far too far from its roots. Their prayers have been heard.
Because I’ll tell you what, if you drive an old Defender, you’re going to love this. It’s your car, done better. Steel ladder frame chassis, none of that poncey air suspension, diesel engine with twin turbos, proper locking diffs, low ratio gearbox operated by a proper lever. It’s all the stuff you love, plus a suitably bizarre driving position that bends your left leg to 90° while putting your right out straight. Blame the floor pan. Same for your elbows. If you want to rest them, the right goes up and forwards, the left down and back. It gives you this weird canted driving position.
The physical controls in here are done well, logically laid out, big enough to hit and satisfying when you do. We wish there was more reason to interact with the roof
