DaimlerBen:
So long as they retain the shape, if not...

EgunMogaji:


They can't.

The reason why they stopped selling them, at least in the US, is partly because of safety. They would have to make it streamlined and for it to fit in with the other models in their lineup.

DaimlerBen:

But the G-Wagon still sells na, it's unfair.

EgunMogaji:

...airbags, passive seat belts,...

...crush zones,...

...5mph bumpers, pedestrian safety,...

...clean emissions.

DaimlerBen:

Retrofit, or are they lazy?

Modify the shell & welds (see as e dey sweet to talk am)

Retrofit stylish ones, not the abhorrence of the 70s & 80s that US safety a**holes used to damage the looks of some sexy cars (you guys really do receive the short end of the stick).

Change the engine, simple.
Do they need my CV? I could be their Jelani.

EgunMogaji:


As in everything I think it came down to the bean counters. At least that was what I was told by an Area Service Representative back then.

She said the retooling cost was cost prohibitive for the dismal sale in the USA.

I'm still going to find a 110 and restore it in Nigeria. I know places in South Africa/UK that still makes/sells the old panels. Only the Brits can make aluminum panels that rusts

DaimlerBen:

They didn't market it as upscale like the G, that's why it didn't sell well.
Concerning your 110, don't you have any contacts with embassies & UN bodies here?
Rusty aluminium? The sins of their colonial fathers live with them.

EgunMogaji:


Sell well?

There was a waiting list with high dealer markups for the 90 and 110 here when they were available.

The audience was different. Remember that Land Rover has the Range Rover line for luxury. The Defender was for hardcore outdoor folks and yuppies. They were not cheap trucks.

DaimlerBen:

But you just said they had dismal sales, or was it the high markups or the rusting aluminium?

EgunMogaji:


Even though they sold all the 90/110 that they brought to the USA, and there were waiting lists, the cost required to meet the new stringent USA mandated safety/emissions laws would not be economically feasible. They would have had to almost double the price of the vehicle to recoup the costs.

They would lose money, hence why the bean counters hexed it and instead focused on the Range Rover and Discovery and LR and that thing with the bad engine whose name I forgot.

Here's a 1997 DEfender near me for sale, this was part of the last Defenders to be sold in the US. The seller is asking $85,000. Now how much would he be asking if it has all sorts of whizbangs like ABS, airbags, crush zones, pedestrian safety bumpers, etc

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/cto/d/1997-land-rover-defender-90-37/6258340961.html

DaimlerBen:

They were just plain lazy. Most things out of the Rover Group were unreliable. Would safety now be their forte?

EgunMogaji:


There are many hotrod small compacts that my inner circle of autoists salivate for that are available in Europe and Japan but not to us here, sadly.

Do you know that I can import a 1967 Austin Mini which is basically a death trap? No airbags, no ABS, no crush zone or side impact bars. But I cannot import a 2000 Mini Cooper which has ABS, fuel injection (better emissions), side impact bars, air bags, etc

DaimlerBen:

Yes, their 25-year import rule.
I still maintain that they were lazy, spending half their production times on strikes. That's how the Japs overtook them & the Chinese bought some (can you imagine?), now there's hardly any wholly British-owned marques left.

EgunMogaji:


We enjoy unprecedented safety standards here in the USA. This is why cars are rather expensive here and many manufacturers prefer not to, or cannot afford to, export their vehicles here.

Peugeot pulled out years back after only a few years here. And Citroen, Rover, etc were never sold here in the USA because they would fail our standards. You'll never find any of the Chinese made death traps here for sale.

FIAT just came back after many years gone.

Rover group may very well have what is needed to pass the standards but at what cost? Would they be able to still sell the cars at a profit after the dance to the USA EPA/NTSB music?

So there's technological intent and economical intent, those two are not mutually exclusive. The engineers can do it but they bean counters may decide against it on behalf of the stock holders.

There are many hotrod small compacts that my inner circle of autoists salivate for that are available in Europe and Japan but not to us here, sadly.

Do you know that I can import a 1967 Austin Mini which is basically a death trap? No airbags, no ABS, no crush zone or side impact bars. But I cannot import a 2000 Mini Cooper which has ABS, fuel injection (better emissions), side impact bars, air bags, etc

EgunMogaji:


I personally think every Brit should have hung their heads in shame when BMW bought Rolls Royce

But such is life.