Why the long face?
Leave me alone. I'm depressed.
Oh come on, surely it's not that bad.
It is. It's really bad. You see, hot on the heels of last night's news that this is the last full year of production for the legendary Land Rover Defender, comes word of a new Land Rover product and it's not one I like the look of. It's... it's...
That's it, you can say it...
It's the Range Rover Evoque Convertible! Land Rover showed off a concept version of this very vehicle three years ago, but now production looks more or less certain, with a prototype likely to be shown at this year's Goodwood Moving Motor Show (held adjacent to the Festival of Speed in June) before sales start at the end of the year.
Designed especially for adding extra layers of smugness to your San Tropez tan, the Evoque cabrio will have a folding fabric roof rather than suffer the weight and space penalty of a steel setup and Land Rover has engineered a new roll-over protection system that will prevent the roll-bars from popping up accidentally if you're getting a bit enthusiastic off-road.
Expect prices to start at around £45,000 and the convertible's arrival should coincide with a general Evoque update including a new infotainment system and the installing of the new Ingenium 2.0-litre diesel engine.
Feel better now?
Yes, at least I've got that off my chest. Oh, and rumour has it that the success of the super-hot Range Rover Sport SVR model has spurred Land Rover to begin development of a hot Evoque SVR to sit alongside the convertible. That should make up for it.
Neil Briscoe - 7 Jan 2015