This post has been in my head for a while but it path is a bit curvy - hopefully you'll be able to follow my thoughts and by the end of the post it will make sense. Likewise, it’s going to be extremely long but I truly hope people actually read until its conclusion. My plan is to break it into manageable paragraphs so it’s easier to consume. It may even spawn multiple posts.
I’ve actually considered a podcast version of what I have written, but I think more people might consume it here. Besides, even folks who have been listening to the PC - THANK YOU by the way - can only stand so much of me. Moreover, a written post allows for comments and conversation thereafter.
Lastly, I have tried to include links to images of the vehicles I speak of. Hopefully I did not forget any.
——
I like “old” things - I have for as long as I can remember, even as a kid. I’ve always been drawn to things from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Cars, tools, gadgets, brands, advertising and design, logos, typography - I love it all.
(The 70s though - ugh, not so much. Even though I was born in ’76, I’m a child of the 80s, and when I think of the 70s I think of horrible clothing, terrible colors, and questionable hair styles. And fondu. Gross.)
Anyway, like I said, I’ve always been drawn to “old” stuff, especially as it relates to the auto industry and its connected ancillaries. This interest is complex though, because now that our society produces many “retro” things, my affinities continue to develop - I like “new” too.
This duality is, as I said, a bit complicated, but it’s certainly what drew me to the Grenadier. I have posted before that I am a Land Rover tragic whose love began in college simply because of a BF Goodrich poster that had an all-yellow D90 station wagon on it. I thought it was one of the coolest looking vehicles I’d ever seen and if I’m honest, I still do.
That said, how could I not be drawn to the INEOS GRENADIER - in many of our minds, it’s the 2023 Defender that JLR should have made. It’s something that I desired for a long time and, with some luck, my wife actually recalled me expressing just that - give me a “new” Defender that looks proper but has modern safety and running gear, contemporary reliability, no rust, etc. Buying a Grenadier would have been an arduous sell had that conversation had not taken place.
When it comes to “retro” vehicles, companies cashing in on their heritage is nothing new. I doubt there is a definitive moment when this trend began, but I think back to the 1994 MUSTANG where Ford was seriously trying to incorporate design cues from the original '65 MUSTANG. More on Ford later.
It seemed over the next however many years that everyone was jumping on the retro bandwagon in both name and design. There was the "new" MINI and the "new' FIAT 500 - two little cars whose existence was kicked off by the "new" BEETLE. Chevy brought back the CAMARO, Dodge revived the CHALLENGER, Nissan introduced a new NEW "Z" CAR, and everything old was new again. That trend continues - there will soon be a new VW BUS, the rebirth of the INTERNATIONAL SCOUT, and the reintroduction of a LAND CRUISER that relies heavily on its past.
Over this same time, and even going back farther, there are iconic vehicles that can’t be considered retro though in the sense that they’ve changed without changing. I speak of models like the PORSCHE 911, the JEEP WRANGLER (nee CJ) , and the G-WAGON. These vehicles - in their latest iterations - would be easily recognizable if displayed at the time of their origins. However, over that time frame - albeit Jeep’s 80+ years or the G-Wagon’s 40-something - each managed to be updated, modernized, and remain relevant throughout their journeys. These vehicles almost transcend time itself and have gracefully evolved over time while remaining true to their roots. No, it wasn’t all pretty - I’m talking to you Mr. Square-headlight WRANGLER and you, Ms. SLANT-NOSE 911 - but there was never any doubt about their respective family trees.
Leaving off the proper Defender from this list was by design. Not unlike the Jeep, the look of the Defender was still quite close to its forefathers and would be easily recognizable puttering around a 1950s Solihull. Honestly, there were only a few major exterior changes from the alpha Land Rover - HUE166 - to its omega homage - H166HUE - right down to the surplus shade of green.
Land Rover Series/Defender changes over its nearly 70-year life can be summed up quite succinctly - the front lights moved out from behind the grill, the lights later moved to the wings, and finally, the lights and grill/front facia became flush LAND ROVER FACES. Certainly it was more complex than that, but from the outside it could be argued that once the Series II was born not much else changed. The Defender fell short of the others, however, in failing to truly evolve under the surface from 1948 until 2016. Somehow Jeep, Mercedes (Magna), and Porsche are still pulling it off.
I’ve actually considered a podcast version of what I have written, but I think more people might consume it here. Besides, even folks who have been listening to the PC - THANK YOU by the way - can only stand so much of me. Moreover, a written post allows for comments and conversation thereafter.
Lastly, I have tried to include links to images of the vehicles I speak of. Hopefully I did not forget any.
——
I like “old” things - I have for as long as I can remember, even as a kid. I’ve always been drawn to things from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Cars, tools, gadgets, brands, advertising and design, logos, typography - I love it all.
(The 70s though - ugh, not so much. Even though I was born in ’76, I’m a child of the 80s, and when I think of the 70s I think of horrible clothing, terrible colors, and questionable hair styles. And fondu. Gross.)
Anyway, like I said, I’ve always been drawn to “old” stuff, especially as it relates to the auto industry and its connected ancillaries. This interest is complex though, because now that our society produces many “retro” things, my affinities continue to develop - I like “new” too.
This duality is, as I said, a bit complicated, but it’s certainly what drew me to the Grenadier. I have posted before that I am a Land Rover tragic whose love began in college simply because of a BF Goodrich poster that had an all-yellow D90 station wagon on it. I thought it was one of the coolest looking vehicles I’d ever seen and if I’m honest, I still do.
That said, how could I not be drawn to the INEOS GRENADIER - in many of our minds, it’s the 2023 Defender that JLR should have made. It’s something that I desired for a long time and, with some luck, my wife actually recalled me expressing just that - give me a “new” Defender that looks proper but has modern safety and running gear, contemporary reliability, no rust, etc. Buying a Grenadier would have been an arduous sell had that conversation had not taken place.
When it comes to “retro” vehicles, companies cashing in on their heritage is nothing new. I doubt there is a definitive moment when this trend began, but I think back to the 1994 MUSTANG where Ford was seriously trying to incorporate design cues from the original '65 MUSTANG. More on Ford later.
It seemed over the next however many years that everyone was jumping on the retro bandwagon in both name and design. There was the "new" MINI and the "new' FIAT 500 - two little cars whose existence was kicked off by the "new" BEETLE. Chevy brought back the CAMARO, Dodge revived the CHALLENGER, Nissan introduced a new NEW "Z" CAR, and everything old was new again. That trend continues - there will soon be a new VW BUS, the rebirth of the INTERNATIONAL SCOUT, and the reintroduction of a LAND CRUISER that relies heavily on its past.
Over this same time, and even going back farther, there are iconic vehicles that can’t be considered retro though in the sense that they’ve changed without changing. I speak of models like the PORSCHE 911, the JEEP WRANGLER (nee CJ) , and the G-WAGON. These vehicles - in their latest iterations - would be easily recognizable if displayed at the time of their origins. However, over that time frame - albeit Jeep’s 80+ years or the G-Wagon’s 40-something - each managed to be updated, modernized, and remain relevant throughout their journeys. These vehicles almost transcend time itself and have gracefully evolved over time while remaining true to their roots. No, it wasn’t all pretty - I’m talking to you Mr. Square-headlight WRANGLER and you, Ms. SLANT-NOSE 911 - but there was never any doubt about their respective family trees.
Leaving off the proper Defender from this list was by design. Not unlike the Jeep, the look of the Defender was still quite close to its forefathers and would be easily recognizable puttering around a 1950s Solihull. Honestly, there were only a few major exterior changes from the alpha Land Rover - HUE166 - to its omega homage - H166HUE - right down to the surplus shade of green.
Land Rover Series/Defender changes over its nearly 70-year life can be summed up quite succinctly - the front lights moved out from behind the grill, the lights later moved to the wings, and finally, the lights and grill/front facia became flush LAND ROVER FACES. Certainly it was more complex than that, but from the outside it could be argued that once the Series II was born not much else changed. The Defender fell short of the others, however, in failing to truly evolve under the surface from 1948 until 2016. Somehow Jeep, Mercedes (Magna), and Porsche are still pulling it off.
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