Due to hit the UK early...
Due to hit the UK early next year, the Antara"s design borrows heavily from the concept car which wowed crowds at last year"s Frankfurt Motor Show.
The mag"s images show...
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.