The Ineos Grenadier Is Inspired By Original 1948 Land Rover Defender, Powered By Modern BMW Engines

• It is roughly the same size as a Mercedes-Benz G-Glass.

• It will be powered by 6-cylinder petrol and diesel BMW engines.

• Priced from £40,000 and arrives in late 2021.

This product is the result of one person wanting something, not getting it, and truly doing something about it. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, founder and majority owner of the £50 billion British petrochemicals group Ineos wanted to build his own Land Rover Defender and asked JLR for the designs and tooling when production ended at Solihull in January of 2016. They said “no” so he went on to design and create his own modern version of the 1948 Land Rover Defender: the Ineos Grenadier.

Anyone familiar with the Defender will instantly recognize the Grenadier and call it a Defender. Even so, this is far from a simple copy of the legendary off-roader. The Grenadier will be powered by straight-6 cylinder diesel and petrol BMW engines which will send power to all four wheels via a ZF 8-speed automatic transmission. Despite the modern powertrains, the Grenadier will be a body-on-frame construction with twin live axles and non-independent coil spring suspension.

The Ineos Grenadier is “early” as in it’s being revealed 18 months before it’s slated to arrive. This was done because they intend to drive the trucks and complete a million-mile global test drive and want to do away with the extra complications that can come from driving a secret prototype.

Two new assembly plants are being built, one in Portugal for the chassis and another in South Wales for final assembly. Pricing is said to start at £40,000 (about $50,000 USD) for the 5-door wagon when it arrives in late 2021. A 4-door pickup will follow afterward.

Talk about “doing something about it.”