In psychology there’s a well-documented phenomenon called the mere-exposure effect. It basically states that the more often people see something, the more they tend to like it. This has proven effective on words, paintings, and even sounds, but now I’m beginning to think that Land Rover has been testing it on vehicles as well. You see, enthusiasts have been slinging unsavory names at the new Defender since the green oval introduced the DC100 concept back in 2011. In fact, the initial response was so negative that some news sources claimed Land Rover would be scrapping the idea altogether. They didn’t of course, but instead, “redesigned” it and delivered peek after small peek while incorporating a slow but ever increasing flare of off-road goodness in each shoot. This continued right up to this week’s photo release of the Defender sporting a snorkel while patrolling the African plains. It was the ultimate in Land Rover nostalgia. You could almost consider it a touch of magic it was so good. Yet after drooling over the images for quite some time, it suddenly struck me that eight years after loathing the DC100, I was basically chomping at the bit to get behind the wheel of what is essentially, well, a DC100.
Pictured below left are the four and two-door DC100 concepts. Below on the right are the four and two-door 2020 Defenders
