Just as the new Grenadier clearly takes its inspiration from the Land Rover Defender, so the original Solihull 4x4 classic – as developed by Rover in the late 1940s – took its own influence from the war-time Jeep, initially conceived by Bantam (American Austin) in the USA, and produced (and perfected) by both Willys and Ford for military use.Īs the hostilities ended, Willys continued production of the Jeep for civilian use (the CJ), this off-roader inspiring Rover’s original Land Rover of 1948. Possibly in rapid response to this (though more likely to have been carefully planned some time ago for early July release), within a working day, Ineos, the audacious new UK start-up rustic vehicle maker, revealed the first official photographs and preliminary details of its Ineos Grenadier, a fresh and welcome ‘back-to-basics’ four-wheel-drive response to the original (and much-missed) 1948-2016 Land Rover Series 1-3/Defender range.

The new stripped-out Defender Hard Top is intended more to carry sheep to market in rural Yorkshire rather than dropping the kids off at school in congested Chelsea.

The first of this practical mud-plugging duo to be recently presented was the commercial hard top version of the new Land Rover Defender, a more functional, long wheelbase derivative of JLR’s much-anticipated SUV with a legendary name.

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