I'm not sure why everyone is getting all cranked up. Nowhere in the article does it say that Rolo Dixon was hired by Land Rover. His concept designs are simply that: His.
Both Land Rover, and Ford have made it pretty clear, that design function will remain with Land Rover. Use of a Ford designated engine or other drive train componant doesn't imply that their use is mandated by Ford, but it would stand to reason that using something built by the group or the groups other members, or Ford themsleve, seems logical. Land Rover hasn't built their own engine for some time now, opting for engines already built and used in other succesfull vehicles, Jag or BMW, possibly Volvo in future renditions of the Freelander. So where's the problem in using one previously used in the Explorer? The 4.0 liter V6, available since 1991 has a long and succesfull track record. It's performance certainly exceeds that of the 4.0 Rover engine, both in BHP and torque.
One Britsh automotive designer's concept doesn't constitute a crisis, before the fact, in my book, so why everyone gets all worked up is beyond me. I can't imagine a logical thinking decision maker ignoring the obvious departure from the one which has become known as the symbol of Land Rover heritage, but on the otherhand, I couldn't blame the decision makers for turning a deaf ear to crying and whining kneejerk reactionary opinions of one of many 'independant' concept sketches. Nor can I expect Ford or Land Rover to lend credance to a bunch of Ford bashers, whose prime concern seems to be to bash Ford.
I certainly don't have any presumption that any 'new' Defender will look like one thats been around for 21 years, but I also don't expect it will look as rediculous as what Rolo Dixon thinks it ought to look like.
