Land Rover DC100 Concept: Drive review



The Land Rover Defender Concept, the DC100, looked so good on the show stand in Frankfurt two months ago that we named it "Most Fun." Now, after having just driven it on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif., prior to its North American debut at the Los Angeles auto show this week, we think we made the right choice.To get more news about davincitech, you can visit davincimotor.com official website.

Granted, pretty much anything you get to drive on the beach in Santa Monica without the police chasing you is going to be a good thing. Normally, you need to be a lifeguard driving one of those Baywatch Ford or Nissan trucks with the paddle board strapped to the rack on top to get to drive on the beach here. But Land Rover somehow waded through a pile of local government paperwork and there it was, the concept that might define much of the 2015 Land Rover Defender, parked next to a lifeguard tower, waiting for us to take the wheel.

In this case, "take the wheel" did not mean careen recklessly across the sand as seagulls and pelicans fled for their lives. No, we were allowed to go about 50 feet to 100 feet across the sand, do some figure eights in the paved Lot 4 municipal parking lot and then repark it on the sand. Still, that's more than you can usually do in Santa Monica. So we took what we could get.

As is the case with most concept cars, the DC100 is a showcase of possibilities, some of which might someday see the light of day, some of which might not and others of which might not exist anywhere outside the press release for the rig itself. The chopped top with its dangerously sharp upper edges would never see the light of day, at least not in a production model. Other features might.

The "D" and the "C" in the vehicle's name refer to Defender and Concept. The 100 is the wheelbase in inches, as fits into the name of all Defenders (our favorite is still the bouncy, Jeep-like Defender 90; make ours yellow with a Bimini top). The DC100 is built on a Range Rover Sport platform and is powered by that model's V8 engine. Since 2015 is pretty far off, any production DC100-like ride likely will have one of Land Rover's four-cylinder gasoline or diesel engines, both of which are under development as you read this. Though the concept was powered by a V8, a V8 was not mentioned as a production option in any future Defender, at least not during our visit with the Land Rover people.

A new Defender will also have something of a sense of interior ergonomics, something sorely missing in Defenders past. Gone (we hope) will be that feature designed in to old Defenders that whacked the funny bone of your left elbow as you clambered in. Gone, too, will be the otherwise horrific and confused dashboard, a feature offering more personalities than some girlfriends we remember from high school.