Jaguar Land Rover's iconic Defender, which went out of production in 2016, is to be revived as a high performance, low volume model.
The Tata Motors owned automaker has given Bowler Motors, part of its Special Vehicle Operations division, permission to use the original Defender shape for high-performance vehicles beginning with a project codenamed CSP 575 – a new road-going vehicle with Bowler's own rally-proven CSP high-strength steel chassis, aluminium alloy Defender 110 Station Wagon body panels and Land Rover's 575PS supercharged V8.
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"This project will supplement the ongoing motorsport developments that are the foundation of Bowler's past, present and future plans, JLR said in a.
Initial renders of the planned 4×4 provide a glimpse of the rally-derived model, which will be the first new Bowler since 2016. Full details will be revealed early in 2021.
JLR said the "competition-inspired off-roader promises to combine potent performance and motorsport-honed durability in a classic Defender 110 Station Wagon shape capable of accommodating four passengers".
Founded in 1985, Bowler pioneered the production of dedicated off-road competition cars in the UK. Jaguar Land Rover acquired it at the end of 2019 and it has been developing a number of projects as part of Special Vehicle Operations.
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By GlobalDataBowler customers are already benefiting from this relationship as Land Rover SV engineers are helping develop Bowler vehicles and using their engineering expertise to test Bowler products at Special Vehicle Operations facilities.
Land Rover said its decision to issue Bowler with a licence agreement to build vehicles using the classic Defender shape is a natural progression of this relationship and the new station wagon project represents a unique undertaking – integrating the technology, components and engineering excellence underpinning SV products with Bowler's motorsport expertise and experience.
Michael van der Sande, managing director, Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations, said: "We're excited to announce the first major project since our acquisition of Bowler."
The new model will be manufactured in very small quantities at Bowler's headquarters in Derbyshire, UK.
With global appeal but targeted at customers in the UK, select European and overseas markets, indicative pricing for the new model is around GBP200,000 in the UK.
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