It’s been teased and leaked repeatedly for more than a year, but now the all-new Land Rover Defender has been exposed in full just a day ahead of its world debut ahead of the Frankfurt motor show tonight.
A full range of official interior and exterior images of the 2020 Land Rover Defender have been leaked online by Instagram user soflorovers, revealing detailed shots and information from the next issue of SA4x4 magazine in South Africa before its publication.
We already know much about the born-again British off-roader – one of the hottest new model reveals this year – but these images expose key details about both the short-wheelbase Defender 90 two-door and long-wheelbase Defender 110 four-door for the first time.
These include the availability of a centre front ‘jump’ seat, making even the Defender 90 capable of accommodating up to six people, a rear tailgate-mounted spare wheel and the option of a hard-core Defender 90 base model with steel wheels, rubber flooring and body protection mouldings.
According to the article, which focusses on the Defender 110 because it will be launched first globally early next year, followed by the Defender 90 due later in 2020, the five-door will come with generous off-road geometry including 291mm of ground clearance, an approach angle of 38 degrees, breakover angle of 28 degrees, departure angle of 40 degrees and a wading depth of 900 mm.
Other vital specs gleaned from the article include permanent all-wheel drive with a centre differential, the option of an active locking rear diff and Land Rover’s latest configurable Terrain Response 2 system with Wade function.
From its launch in South Africa (and likely Australia), 2020 the Land Rover Defender 110 will reportedly be available with a circa-300kW/550Nm 3.0-litre straight-six trubo-petrol engine dubbed P400, and a P240 2.0-litre turbo-diesel with 430Nm.
Other newly uncovered figures include a huge 3720kg towing capacity, an optional roof rack capable of holding an additional 300kg and a sizeable 2380 litres of maximum cargo space with the rear seats folded flat.
The Defender range will include S, SE, HSE and range-topping X equipment grades, plus a limited-run First Edition during the first year of production, and four accessory packs: Explorer, Adventure, County and Urban.
SA4x4 magazine says the 2020 Land Rover Defender 110 will be priced from R910,400 in South Africa, which equates to $A89,900, but Australian pricing is yet to be confirmed.
Stand by for further details after 6:00pm today, but for now it’s clear the new Defender – the first to be based on a monocoque platform – will be a radical departure from the original 1948 Land Rover, while attempting to retain key design and capability links with its forebears.