Until recently, if a customer desired a performance oriented Land Rover Defender, aftermarket specialists were the only capable entities to offer one. But that could all change with the introduction of the new model.
Unlike the G-Class, which can be commissioned in overpowered, high-end, AMG-bred variants that can kneel nature itself, the Brits at Land Rover kept the Defender line-up more conservative and utilitarian, appealing to the off-road enthusiast with its rugged, simple nature.
There were three SVX-branded Defenders created in 2008, to mark Land Rover’s 60th anniversary, but the vehicles were manufactured in limited numbers, making them uber-rare and coveted nowadays.
However, with the upcoming Defender (which will be revealed in 2018), things may change, as Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicles Operations could offer extreme off-road, extreme performance and extreme luxury models based off existing variants, as managing director of SVO, John Edwards, told Car Advice:
“We look at every car — clearly I’m not going to talk about the future Defender, because we’re not talking about that yet — and we say, ‘could we have an SVR version of this car? Could we have an SVX? SVX is all about capability. We haven’t launched the brand yet, but I think you get an understanding of what it is. When I think about it, I think about Dakar and Camel Trophy, and somewhere in the middle is an extreme off-road version of our products.”
Obviously, the focus won’t be exclusively on the Defender, as SVO is planning to add its flair to other Land Rover products, each with its own distinctive character and variants as Edwards concluded:
“We look at all of our cars and these guys dream about a performance car and a capability, or a luxury version, and I could see all three of those brands featuring on all of our cars.”
That translates into SVO’s SVRacing, SVXtreme and SVAutobiography sub-brands being used.
Renderings via Carwow
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