When it comes to filling the tire tracks of a storied model like the Defender, there’s no way to make everyone happy. External forces are at hand. It doesn’t meet U.S. safety requirements or stricter Euro Union CO2 standards, it’ll hurt LR’s American Corporate Average Fuel Economy ratings, and SUV buyers continue to move away from hard-core off-roaders toward crossovers. If Land Rover wants to bring the Defender back to the U.S. — and seems it does — big changes must happen.

The Land Rover DC100 is the more traditional of Land Rover’s two concepts. We briefly drove the other, the lifestyle-oriented DC100 Sport. The Sport’s interior is more modern and easier to use than the ergonomically challenged yet charming original. Some switchgear, including the pushbutton starter, look borrowed from Jaguar. The concept has a gasoline four, though that doesn’t reflect what the production engine might be when it goes on sale mid-decade. We drove it on three loops around a parking lot and briefly on sand. This drive was more about the new Defender’s potential than anything else.