In 1947, Maurice Wilks drew a Land Rover in the sand of Red Dwarf Bay, in Angelssey. By 1948, that sand drawing idea would spawn 48 pre-production vehicles and the launch of Land Rover at the 1948 Amsterdam motor show. We know the rest. So why are we telling you this?

Land Rover were trying to give the world a teaser image of the new Defender as the old model bows out. And most people missed it. One press outlet summed up the whole stunt:

The Defender is coming to an end and Land Rover have made a 1km wide sand drawing

Yes, that's true. But they've got the wrong end of the stick. The original Land Rover was drawn in sands of this very beach. So why not create a homage to tradition with the 2016/7 Defender? Here it is again if you didn't spot it:

Now, this could be a 2.2 Puma Engined Defender. Albeit, a stylised, simplified version. However, the rake of the windscreen is different, the incline on the first third of the roof is now much shorter than on a current production model. The rear overhang is tighter and the front end is obscured. It looks like a new Defender. What do you think? 

Dc100 Overlay

The Dc100 fits the shape quite nicely, though there are differences, there's no power bulge bonnet on the Dc100 for a start. Also, the rear overhang is much more curvaceous on the Dc100 prototype.

2.4 Puma Overlay

Keeping a current Defender to the right proportions, but aligning the perspective of the 2 photos shows that it's not a current Defender.

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