Off-roading topless in DC100 Defender

When we saw the new Jag XJ earlier last year, we thought that was the limit of how drastic a change in design direction could get. But this week, JLR surprised us, again, by following up its shockingly radical DC100 three door Defender replacement concept with an ever more extreme variant – the open-top DC100 Sport. And, it’s been aptly decked out in bright yellow, so no one will miss you at Jumeirah Beach. Land Rover says these two concepts, set to hit the production line in 2015, will retain the ‘flexibility, adaptability and configurability’ of the icon they’ll replace, while signalling a major shift from the stagnant six-decades-old design of the legendary truck. Although it shares the 100in wheelbase with its hard-top sibling, the topless Landy sits lower and thus looks a lot sportier. And much like the former, it uses sustainable materials and technology leading to greater fuel efficiency. The Defender’s celebrated all-terrain capabilities will be captured in the new cars, and in fact boosted with the help of the latest technology like the ‘Terrain-I’ scanning device which will warn the driver of obstacles while off road, and even a  sonar water depth assessing system to effectively wade through streams and rivers.