Jalopnik: land

Bentley And Land Rover For Sale, Were Celebri... Uh, Wrestler-Owned!

John Krewson — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:30:00 EDT

Wrestletainer Dave Batista is clearing his garage! He's put an okay 2008 Land Rover and a very nice Bentley up on eBay, but there's only a day or so left. Loser gets hit with a folding chair!

The Land Rover is the supercharged model with custom rims and some aftermarket trim added, big threatening speakers in the trunk, and paint as Alaska White as the WWE fanbase. We can only assume it's for sale because it turned on him in a surprising act of sudden treachery!

The Continental Speed GT has had some mild chip-and-exhaust work, a grille kit, and custom wheels, but is mostly stock. Like Batista, it probably needs belts, but we assume it face-heel turns on a dime.

[eBay via Celeb Cars Blog]

Land Rover LRX Heading To Production, Hybrid Model Possible

The Auto Insider — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:30:00 EDT

According to AutoCar sources, the three-door Land Rover LRX concept is heading to production. Will it make it to production as a three-door or five-door model? Also, what of hybrid rumors?

AutoCar sat down with Land Rover boss, Phil Popham, who told the Euro buff book:

"Our research of the LRX proved that if we can deliver the intent of the concept it has got all the hallmarks of a Range Rover."

Popham says the production LRX will be close to the concept's design, but will receive the Range Rover name. This also means that it's likely that it will be a five-door model rather than the concepts cool 3-door sport styling and will carry a taller roof line.

It's expected that this new, smaller Range Rover will share its chassis with the current Land Rover Freelander and will share similar powertrain options. Land Rover is also reporting that it will be the 'greenest' Land Rover to date, with a hybrid model expected. We'll believe it when we see it. Orders are expected to begin next year for the new model.

Land Rover Press Release:

LAND ROVER CONFIRMS GRANT OFFER TO BUILD NEW MODEL

Gaydon, Warwickshire, 11 March 2009

The UK Government has confirmed a grant offer of up to £27 million is to be made available to Land Rover for the production of an all-new car. The company is due to make a final decision on the the go-ahead of the project at its award-winning plant in Halewood, on Merseyside, later this year.

The car would be based on Land Rover's acclaimed LRX Concept vehicle, first shown at the Detroit Show last year, and would be the smallest, lightest and most efficient it has ever produced.

"We welcome the Government's support for this project, which would form a key part of our future product plans and which we very much want to put into production," said Phil Popham, Managing Director of Land Rover.

The grant offer will be made available under the Government's Grant for Business Investment scheme and is an important contribution towards the overall £400 million cost of the project. This is separate from the broader automotive support package currently being unveiled by the Government.

Although it still has to go through a number of approval gateways in the product development process before getting the final go-ahead, Land Rover has also confirmed that the new car would be a key addition to the Range Rover family of luxury vehicles.

Phil Popham said, "Our engineering feasibility study has shown that we can very successfully deliver Range Rover levels of quality, drivability and breadth of performance in a more compact, more sustainable, package. Feedback from the most extensive customer research we have ever undertaken also fully supports our belief that a production version of the LRX Concept would further raise the desirability of our brand and absolutely meet all those expectations.

"It would be the smallest, lightest and most efficient Range Rover that we've ever built," Phil added. "The compact size, lighter weight and sustainability-focused technologies of the LRX Concept showed how Land Rover is planning to respond to the needs of a changing world. Despite the current economic challenges, we remain committed to investing for the future, to continue to deliver relevant vehicles for our customers, with the outstanding breadth of capability for which we are world-renowned."

The new Range Rover would embrace excellent levels of refinement and all-round capability and also introduce new powertrain options, providing a major step forward in enabling the implementation of Land Rover's e-terrain technologies strategy and achievement of its goal to exceed a 20 per cent improvement in CO2 emissions.

"Both the design and size of the LRX Concept have generated a hugely positive reaction wherever it has been seen and we've also gathered fresh insights on what potential owners would look for in a production equivalent. That knowledge is now being applied to the process of refining the vehicle as it heads towards final approval," said Phil.

The Halewood facility employs 2000 people and is a recipient of the J.D. Power Gold Standard. It currently produces the Land Rover Freelander 2 and Jaguar X-TYPE.

[via AutoCar]

Land Rover Defender

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:00:00 EST

Last week saw a heated debate over the entry of the 1925 Rolls-Royce Phantom 1 Jonckheere Coupe. Was it beautiful or a mockery, art or excess, folly or fantastic? According to the votes, 80.3% of you believed it a worthy entrant, so those questions have an answer. Now we switch gears entirely, from a tribute to form to a celebration of unquestionable function. In modern history, Land Rover has been nothing if not there to see things happen. It is said that a Land Rover is the only vehicle some people will ever see. Beginning in post-war Britain in 1946, an unbroken chain of workhorse machines has performed the duties set forth by their owners, never rusting, rarely failing. That progression has left us with a paragon of uncomplaining, uncomplicated virtue: the Land Rover Defender.

To tell the story of the Defender, you must tell the story of the Land Rover Series vehicles. Conceived during and after World War II, at a time when steel and other materials were strictly rationed in the war and rebuilding effort, the Land Rover was a crude but essential machine. Its original inspiration was the military Jeep, but it was reborn as something of a do-it-all — a vehicle which could be used in the bombed out countryside, provide agricultural power by way of its front and rear power take offs, carry the family and haul heavy loads. It was constructed of plentiful aircraft aluminum in a specially alloyed mix and designed to be assembled entirely with hand tools, if necessary. It remains so today.

As the years progressed, the Land Rover series vehicles saw steady improvements to the powertrain, suspension, transfer cases and ergonomics, but they remained true to their root mission: They were basic, blissfully basic. This simplicity gave rise to a devoted following. In fact, a maniacal following. Ease of maintenance, interchangeable parts spanning up to four decades, legendary durability—it all fueled desire and fed demand.

And that leads us to 1983. With the Series III getting long in the tooth, Land Rover updated the vehicle with several important improvements. The suspension was upgraded with a more modern coil-spring design, the two piece windshield was swapped out for a single pane, crank side windows replaced sliders, and a new set of more powerful, but still incredibly durable, engines were dropped under the hood. The interior was updated to provide creature comforts that brought the truck out of the stone age (the austere old guard harumphed, but those with battered buttcheeks rejoiced). The true brilliance of the Defender, however, shone through in its flexibility. Available in three different wheelbases, each designed and equipped for different duties. The 90 was the two-door model and featured a 93" wheelbase; it was targeted at civilian and agricultural use. The 110 was the four-door wagon with room for up to nine, due to the side-mounted seats (which hung around until the 2007 refresh). The 127, which was later renamed the 130, was designed for heavy applications, outfitted with the largest engine, a four-door cab and a short pickup box. The 127 quickly became the vehicle of choice for militaries all over the world.

Enough history, let's get down to brass tacks. The Land Rover Defender represents all that is good and pure in the motoring world. It is form following function to the truest of standards. By all accounts—and if you've ever driven in one you'll agree—the Defender is not a vehicle to be taken lightly. Not for the meek, it's a brutal on the road, requiring heroic steering input, delivering frightening understeer and body roll that rivals the worst of the 1940s, and serving up wind and road noise that can charitably described as deafening. But that same terrible on-road truck is a master of it's domain when the road ends, at low speed and hundreds of miles from the beaten path. Here, in the muck and mire, Defender is a champion. And that's the point. This is a vehicle with a singular purpose: To get you to where you're going, no matter where that might be.

A vehicle that serves its purpose without excuses, indifferent to modern tastes, a monument to all the explorers who blazed their own trail across uncharted vistas in bygone days. The Land Rover Defender speaks to our lizard brain in ways which make us want to damn this digital existence and get lost in a wilderness, reconnecting with the curiosities that make life interesting. It is not a polished and perfect, technology-toting wunderkind, and that's why we love it. The Defender reminds us of the reason why men strike out on their own, in defiance of rationality, to find their own way, and that's why we want it in our fantasy garage.

Spy Photos: More on the 2009 Toyota Land Cruiser

Mike Spinelli — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 13:00:00 EDT

Broad-daylight testing of the next Toyota Land Cruiser in sundry, sultry sultinates continues, apparently unabated by impromptu drifting contests or sandal surfing. New images showed up today courtesy of Carscoop. They're showing an undisguised Cruiser baking in the heat and sucking up the searing sands of Dubai. Toyota's hot-weather testing of undisguised Cruisers has gone on in the mideast for at least a year, so by now it should be able to take some dry heat, powered rock and extreme hoonage. We'll likely see the finished product at the Tokyo show in October. – Mike Spinelli

2009 Toyota Land Cruiser Spied Again [Carscoop]

Spy Photos: 2009 Toyota Land Cruiser

Mike Spinelli — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 07:07:42 EST

According to those who say they know, the Nissan GT-R won't be the only big debut at the Tokyo Auto Show later this year. Chiba City will also likely host the unveiling of Toyota's next Land Cruiser, and its even richer relation, the Lexus LX470. Once described as "that fat kid at the dance who will kick your ass if you make fun of him" (I think it was Car & Driver sometime in the 1990s), the Cruiser will get a slightly squarer comportment. It'll also get a luxe new interior and potentially Toyota's new 5.7-liter i-Force V8 producing 381 horsepower. Look for it to hit dealerships by mid-2008. – Mike Spinelli

2009 Land Cruiser Scooped [Carscoop]

Spy Photos: 2008 Toyota Land Cruiser, Lexus LX 470

Mike Spinelli — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 10:34:27 EDT

If these new spy shots taken in southern Europe indicate what's to come, a leaner, vaguely meaner Toyota Land Cruiser appears to be in the offing. Get past the acreage of gaffer's tape and tar paper, and you can see the extent of the ToMoCo flagship SUV's facelift. Spies say the Cruiser will be entrely new with a more rounded comport, it'll get a range of engines from V6s to V8s (likely including Toyota's new 5.7-liter eight) and diesels (not for US yet) and be even more luxurious than the current bruiser. One question remains. Will it still be tough enough for the UN, Interpol and sundry warlords, drug kingpins and arms dealers? Now there's a focus group we wouldn't mind an invite to.

SPY PHOTOS: New Toyota Landcruiser / Lexus LX 470 [World Car Fans]

Oh, Mon! Possible New Toyota Land Cruiser Spotted in Sultanate

Mike Spinelli — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 11:15:27 EDT

Is this the new Toyota Land Cruiser? An Autoblog reader sent in these photos of what may be the next Cruisey, being tested in the Sultanate of Oman. It makes sense, considering that, for hot-weather testing, the Middle East is Asian and European carmakers' version of our own Death Valley. If it is, the new model looks a bit sharper and more distinctive than the "fat boy at the dance" model that's still at the top of Toyota's SUV range. Then again, it could be a one-off built for some sultan or other; you know how they love to stand out among shiekhs.

Spy Shots: Toyota Land Cruiser [Autoblog]