Next Freelander Takes Shape

This week's issue has the world's first pictures of the all-new Freelander replacement model.

Auto Express Car Reviews

By Craig Cheetham

14th December 2004

The mag's images show a development mule with the current car's bodyshell, but the track is wider and the wheelarches are flared out to accommodate a different platform. Being developed in conjunction with Volvo, the floorpan will also spawn a 'baby' Swedish SUV, rumoured to be the XC50. Both will be based on a modified Ford Focus platform with full-time four-wheel drive.

Visible at the rear edge of the front wing is a small air vent, which shows this car uses the 2.7-litre V6 diesel engine as seen in the Discovery and forthcoming Range Rover Sport.

Other models in the range will feature 2.0 and 2.2-litre Ford TDCi oil-burners, while V6 and four-cylinder petrol units are also expected.

The car is the next phase in Land Rover's six-year plan to totally revise its line-up, which started with the Range Rover in 2002. Expected to make its debut late in 2005, the Free-lander is tipped to hit the road in 2006.

Although its boxy looks and separate steel chassis will both remain, the workhorse 4x4 will get a revised interior and new powerplants. These will include the 150bhp 2.2-litre unit from the Ford Mondeo ST TDCi. In 2008, a hardcore 4x4 will arrive, using shortened Discovery underpinnings but styled as an upmarket Defender. The final model is a sub-Freelander soft-roader which is expected in the same year.