Yes, there is such a thing as the “World Land Rover Day.”
It was April 30, 1948 when the Land Rover Series I was unveiled at the Amsterdam Motor Show. That is why every year, April 30 is for fans of the legendary off-roader the “World Land Rover Day.” The British marque put on quite a show in 2018 for the 70th anniversary and this year is even better as Land Rover has dropped some fresh images of the next-generation Defender during its lengthy and grueling testing phase.
The prototype fleet has covered a combined 745,645 miles (1.5 million kilometers) so far and will soon undergo its final evaluation by completing field testing with the Tusk Trust in Kenya. If you haven’t heard of the Tusk Trust before, it’s a British non-profit organization established in 1990 to protect African wildlife. One of the prototypes will have to endure some rough tests by towing heavy loads, wading through rivers and carrying cargo across what Land Rover describes as being “unforgiving terrain.”
The new Defender’s development phase includes a total of more than 45,000 individual tests organized in various parts of the world, including at altitudes of up to 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. The Defender also had to endure temperatures as high as 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in the desert and as low as -40°C (-40°F) at the Arctic Circle.
The adjacent teaser images show camouflaged prototypes of the versatile SUV testing in three- and five-door flavors with short and long wheelbases, respectively. A single cab pickup truck is rumored to be on the agenda later in the model’s life cycle as part of a vast lineup of versions to broaden the Defender’s appeal.
While Land Rover says the world premiere is scheduled for “later this year,” a recent report indicates the official debut is programmed to take place sometime in September. It’s not known at this point whether the reveal will be organized during the Frankfurt Motor Show or at a standalone event.
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