This Or That: 1987 VW Vanagon Syncro Vs. 1987 Land Rover Defender
VW - Repair and Consignment Sales Redwood City - This Or That: 1987 VW Vanagon Syncro vs. As I scoured auction sites and classified ads for the perfect vehicle to take into battle with AutoblogAssociate Editor Brandon Turkus, I knew I needed to find something unique. You see, I'm currently 0-2 at winning a round of This or That, in which two of our editors agree on a category, choose a side, and argue it out over a (mostly) friendly chain of emails. The first time we did this, my chosen Fiat 500 Abarth took about a third of the popular vote in our reader poll. The second time, my lovely 1980 Oldsmobile 442 did just a little bit better against a 1989 BMW 635 CSi. With all of that out of the way, even if three isn't my lucky number after all, I go into battle against Brandon knowing full well that I've made the perfect choice: A 1987 Volkswagen Vanagon Syncro. My rough-and-tumble van/'ute has a formidable opponent in the form of a 1987 Land Rover Defender, which, truth be told, is exactly what I was expecting from Turkus, a self-proclaimed Rover aficionado.
Everyone is eagerly anticipating the arrival of new Land Rover Defender 2020. Unfortunately, Jaguar Land Rover has done a remarkable job keeping secrets. A few days ago, the British carmaker brand disclosed some new information about the new model. The Defender was one of the most popular series manufactured in the Jaguar Land Rover factories. It found loyal users across continents and proved to be a vehicle built for both on-road and offroad driving experiences. This played right into their hand as it created such a buzz that now everyone wants to find out more about the new upcoming series of Defenders. Its big debut is scheduled later this year, and JLR has decided to squelch the thirst of its most loyal customers by disclosing more details about the king of off-road adventures. What's New About Land Rover Defender 2020? We would still be in the dark if not for Mark Cameron - the man in charge of Jaguar Land Rover Australia. In a recent interview, Cameron disclosed few more details about the upcoming Defender series, commenting that it has everything it takes to become the best-selling model in the history of Jaguar Land Rover.
Rocky times for Jaguar Land Rover and Daimler, more drama between Nissan and Renault, and recalls, recalls recalls. With Brexit worries, a falling demand in China and a failed bet on diesel all to blame, Jaguar Land Rover isn鈥檛 doing too well lately. 4 billion quarterly loss at current exchange rates in just the three months leading up to Dec. 31. That鈥檚 a whole lot of money to lose in not a very long time. Spoken like a loving parent. Diesel is a huge hit, in a bad way, to JLR鈥檚 performance currently, despite the company thinking it could do well outside of the Dieselgate scandal that broke with Volkswagen. Diesel vehicles account for just under 90 percent of Jaguar鈥檚 sales in Europe at a time when consumers are increasingly choosing more environmentally-friendly options. By 2040, more than half of all new car sales and a third of the planet鈥檚 automobile fleet 鈥?equal to 559 million vehicles 鈥?will be electric, according to Bloomberg NEF.
Land Rover has announced that the Defender will debut in 2019 and hit dealers in 2020. It'll be the first Defender sold in the US since 1997. Here's everything we know about it so far. A few things come to mind. Firstly, the winch is excellent. Secondly, the alpine windows are still there! Thirdly, the rear passenger door looks massive 鈥?you鈥檒l never open that in a Tesco car park! Fourthly, there seems to be quite a bit of wheel clearance (though it鈥檚 unknown if this is standard height, off road height, or on coils!). Fifthly, checker on the bonnet (yes, the bonnet is a funny shape and there is no real wing to speak of). Sixthly, I鈥檓 not sure about the mirrors at all. User Steven Firth on Instagram recently published this picture of what seems to be the new Defender on the set of the latest James Bond film No Time to Die.