I agree with okdiscoguy. Bring back the boxy! I just bought an '03 D2 and she's great but it seems like the Rover name is moving towards making the vehicles look like the Infiniti SUV (gross... eg. LR2 and RR Sport). Update the Defender, make the LR3 look more like an off-road performer and less like vehicle who's greatest ambition is transporting the driver to and from the hair salon in the suburbs...

 

This made me laugh a lot. Hilarious. I will try to drive over more curbs.

 

Agreed. Boxy is better, and is the classic Land Rover way! I don't like the direction the newer Landies are heading. The 2015 Discovery Sport, the Evoque, all streamlined and generic looking. Bring back the Defender in it's rugged, boxy glory with full capabilities!

 

There's a few design queues that are iconic Land Rover. First, there are two really iconic Land Rover designs that are separate and distinct. The Series, and the Range Rover (Classic).

Some of the design queues unique to the Series include the large round headlights on the grill. When they switched them to the fenders, they lost that. Nowadays, forward lighting can be done with very small LED's, and the opportunity for retro design is tremendous, even if it's only partially functional. For example, the legal headlights could be a thin line of LED's in the fender, but there could be large round daytime running lights in the grill. That grill is another design queue. It should be tall and narrow, and recessed. Nothing is more antithetical to the classic Land Rover design than a wide, squat front grill like we see on the Evoque. Other key style features include square door seams, flat glass, and flat body panels. There's nothing inherently archaic about those features. They could be accommodated in a thoroughly modern design if only partially. For example, there may be a concession to a curved windshield, but the side glass could be flat. That side glass should be very tall -- the opposite of the current trend of the useless, squat, chopped-top look. This is a safari car, to go on tour of parks, the countryside, or even an urban environment. The glass should be touring quality like the Bentley State Limousine.

The Range Rover probably has two personalities. The classic 1970-1995 design is the most remarkable, but the modern Range Rover has evolved into something that a retro design could not replace. Personally, I think there is room for a retro Range Rover, as well as continuing with the totally modern luxury car. JLR is doing fine with the luxury version, and I imagine the Jaguar and the Bentley SUV together offer plenty of inspiration.

There is room for a retro Range Rover, evocative of the classic design which the modern Range Rover has totally neglected. The design queues I see here are the straight sides. That is the sides have straight horizontal lines -- just like a 1965 Cadillac (or many other cars from the 60's). The sides are not flat, nor are they square, but they are straight. They are not diagonal like an Evoque. They are not curved like a Jaguar. All the same I wrote about glass for the Series applies to the Range Rover.

Keep these styling principles, and try innovating anything else.

 

I like that it has the covenant towel rack option