There are five concept cars in focus at Goodwood, as well as a new production limited-run variant from their Arcane Works special vehicles department. The Arcane Works vehicle is called the Detour, and it's INEOS' first special model. It's designed to focus on British high-end finishes and is sent from the factory in Hambach, France, to the UK for final work. Among the upgrades, there's Bridge of Weir leather with quilted seating surfaces, machined metal knobs in the center console, cashmere headliners from Johnstons of Elgin in Scotland, and special carpeted floor mats. Exterior detailing includes a special suite of paint colors, unique colored trim pieces, a custom-design grille, and custom-color roof rails. There's also the option for custom paint colors, customized sill plate text, and seat embroidery.
That's the model you can buy -- 200 Detours are hitting the market worldwide. But what about the five concept cars that INEOS is showing off at Goodwood?
The concepts include versions of the original station wagon Grenadier and the Quartermaster pickup truck. They all bring something different to the table and show off the versatility of the Grenadier's body-on-frame construction. While the more unified body shell isn't as adaptable as the bolted-together classic Defender, the Grenadier's construction does make it easier to modify than the unibody new Defender.
First up is a V8 version. The stock Grenadier only offers two engine options: the BMW B58 inline-six gas engine and the BMW B57 inline-six diesel. (We only get the gasser in North America.) The V8 is a GM-derived 6.2-liter example, engineered into the Grenadier by the team at Magna, the Austrian firm that manages the vehicle's construction. Fitting the engine in required all sorts of re-engineering, but offers 425 horsepower, a hefty boost over the stock 282-horsepower engine.
A Quartermaster pickup truck with portal axles brings every rock crawler's dream to light, with high ground clearance and big, beefy tires. It's got airs of the Mercedes-Benz G500 4×4², the portal-axled variant of the iconic G-Wagen. If rock crawling isn't your thing, maybe rallying is, and so INEOS also debuted their first-ever FIA-certified rally car, ready to hit Dakar and other off-road rallies.
There's also a few conversions on show which modify the rear area of the vehicle. One is a safari concept built by Ineos Kavango. Kavango is a Bostwanan safari vehicle builder that INEOS bought last year, which has built open-air observation vehicles for safari lodges out of Toyota Land Cruisers and Defender 130s since 2009. This is a prime market for the Grenadier, and so taking that production in-house was a shrewd move. The Safari offers four rows of seats, and will likely make its way to lodges in the next few years, becoming a part of the landscape of upscale African travel.
Finally, there's the fun option: The "Shortermaster," a short bed version of the Quartermaster pickup. Practical? Maybe not, but it's a fun option to show the flexibility of the new pickup variant, landing soon in the United States (at a price commensurate with its foreign manufacturing getting hit with the "Chicken Tax.")
With these concepts, INEOS further stakes itself out as taking over some of the terrain that Land Rover once held with the old Defender's heavily reconfigurable body. But with Land Rover finding success with the new Defender, while Ineos stakes out its quarter, it seems more and more like there is enough business to go around.
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