Summer Interlude - Drawing on the Past....Elevation of the Sketch

Previous depiction of communicative 3D and 2D sketches were illustrated using thoughts of the time pertaining to: Land Rover potential for Defender 2, Rover Cars potential for New 95 and Rover Cars potential for New R45.

This weblog seeks to convey the basic use of Orthographic Projection when imparting specific elevational viewpoints.

1st and 3rd Angle Projection Drawings were the mainstay of the yesteryear Engineering Industries; and thus the aligned Technical Education that accompanied it. An age of British Standards, transparent draughting paper and 'blueprints'.

Technical Drawing was still a taught discipline in Secondary Comprehensive Schools in the 1980s, even though Britain's Heavy and Light Industries were experiencing fundamental decline in terms of national economic output and so inevitably the slashing of employment numbers.

By 1983/4 and my own first efforts per 'Engineering Drawing', UK domestic Coal, Steel, Ship-Building and Automotive Manufacturing had each in turn been through major restructuring given the pressures of increasing global free-trade. And so sector 'right-sizing', realignments, mergers and acquisitions, stemming from the inability to compete against foreign competition on the world stage. Coal and Ship-Building slimmed, Steel re-organised to become more specialist, and for Autos put under the protection of what was seen as a more capable industrial parent (ie Rover Group under British Aerospace).

Nonetheless, as a naive, ignorant and idealistic 14/15 year old, I fitted what I could regards a fascination with cars into school curriculum subjects. In Art class, one project was the drawing a Porsche 928 S1 with accompanying female; simply by combining and copying  the pictures from two magazines. In Tech Drg class for a split-section project it was the copying of the innards of that Porsche's V8 engine.

So whilst other schoolboys had had posters of Lamborghinis and Ferraris on their bedroom walls, I had none. But what had struck me was Porsche's willingness to experiment within the GT segment with innovative 928. Its simple yet powerful aesthetics (by Mobius and Lapine), its use of mixed materials (steel, aluminium and plastics - front and rear for US impact regulations) and the mass balancing all aluminium 'front-mid' engine together with rear trans-axle, then only seen elsewhere on Alfa-Romeos.

It was ultimately the whole 928 package absorbed my young mind; far more than that which came from Marenallo, Sant'Agata Bolognese or the homegrown cars from Newport Pagnell and elsewhere. Yes a Countach or Testarossa looked the part, but 928 was a technical tour de force. The manner in which the 928 revolutionised both design and engineering was inspiring and in direct contrast to the 911's evolutionary and much compromised layout.

So if a young man was to learn about drawing and technical drawing, then best to draw from the best.

Fourteen years later and after a Masters Degree, when joining Rover Group I was fortunate to have enjoy a largely self-dictated 'roving remit', systematically formulated to spend  time in many of the numerous NPD departments - and thereafter perminantly placed with Land Rover's Strategy Unit; yet still with the freedom of time spent in other departments elsewhere to absorb and question about normative operational practices across the 4 in-house marques of the time.

Besides the planned Product Pipeline, was (amongst the myriad of NPD possibilities) the perenial question regards the updating and eventual replacement of Defender.

Although once a global pioneer that took Jeep's edict and spread it worldwide, by the mid 1990s its international glory days had long past given the constantly evolved and improved Japanese competition in global markets and its abject incompatability with the massive North American truck market. It was in objective terms a diminishing product and could be classified as a 'Dog' within the simplistic but then omnipresent Boston Consulting Matrix.

Throughout the development of original Range Rover, Discovery, P38 Range Rover, Freelander and Discovery 2, the idea of Defender replacement had always obviously been present. But quite simply there was more revenue and profits to be had from other products in Luxury and Leisure classes, and internal recognition that the Utility segment served by Defender was little more than British Farmers, UK and European specialist users primarily Utility Companies, and critically the UK MoD and Foreign Defence Forces.

So updates on the standard vehicle had been basic to meet regulations, provide slight improvements (eg cabin fitments) and the use of 'Specials' such as the 50th Anniversay model for boosted profit margins from the private market. So whilst that gave notional volume sales, greater margins were made from product tailorisation by the SVO Department for commissioned, brief-specified vehicles; from Powerline Cherry-Picker to an MoD 'Wolf' or 'Pulse' variant.

The Vehicle was still simplistic and 'agricultural' in its engineering and spirit, which meant easy adaption of the 110 and 130 chassis by those who required special fitment and easy DIY adaption by the off-road enthusiasts and later urban poseur.

[NB back in the mid 1990s after the 1980s "Sloane Ranger" trend, a beaten-up, mud-splatted Series 1 or 2 still had far more cache in Central London, than anything new and accessory-laden. The old stuff still does.

For the enlightenment of the many foreign readers, the term 'Sloane Ranger' derived from the adjunct of 'Sloane Street/Square and Range Rover' and allusion to 'The Lone Ranger' given association to the 'horsey set'].

But Defender's overall sales volume in real terms was small, it took up space in an expensive Solihull factory and had high labour content, which in a high cost-base nation like the UK even by 1990 was an economic paradox and frustration to anyone with a sharp business mind.

But it was the original Land Rover, the very cornerstone of the brand, and could not be easily axed. On the upside since much of its inhouse and supplier tooling and jig costs and component costs had been much ammortised over the years, on a per unit basis it was providing a decent return, a fact which itself enabled continued virtual hand-building at Solihull. There just was not enough being made, and / or the very business case required fundamental change.

Hence the company faced the ongoing irony of having to secure Defender's future whilst recognising the product stream's innate flaws.

Given that Solihull as a production facility had become far more sophisticated since the original 'Landy' in 1947, what was really ultimately required was that Defender be built and possibly re-invented elsewhere. Yet keeping its current engineering base and so guise - to maintain its original persona and ensure low Cap Ex costs, and boosting margins through much reduced labour input costs.

[NB In 1998 BMW (given its Motorad division) had asked Land Rover to explore the idea of an L-R Quadbike, just before the sector was slowly transforming into Side-by-Sides. BMW was obviously keen to try to apply its motorcycle componentry elsewhere, just as Honda and Kawasaki had done in the past to create and grow the Quadbike segment.

To that end the Design Studio was asked to produce some ideas. Two Coventry University students (Feathers and Platt - if propertly remembered) on work placement produced two renderings that depicted more functionalist Qaudbikes in the L-R manner. In one-person  and two person versions, and larger than conventional Honda (Foreman), to include fold-out carry-trays for wider loads, roll-hoop, additional lighting etc.

That idea foundered since although it would effectively use BMW Motorad powertrain, the remainder was effectively an all-new vehicle, and so too problematic to develop given the demands on Engineering and Procurement, and vitally recognition that Honda was already well entrenched globally in Utility ATVs, with Suzukiand Kawasaki an obvious close threat. And in N.America the likes of Polaris had been home grown.
So given the complexities, dominant segment player and low barriers to entry into the segment, the L-R Quadbike idea was internally quashed].

But, for me, it did spark another idea one weekend in that period.

Well before TATA's take-over of the later entity JLR - as a side-thought I considered the idea of an Indian production centre for Defender that could once again put it centre stage of Emerging Markets.

Defender however, would have to grow its already expansive persona to do more than it had ever done before. It needed to recapture its past personality of Farmer's 'Friend' and Light-Industry and Tradesman's 'Mate', by offering a more complete package.

That meant a somewhat radical re-invention which meant that besides 90, 110 and 130 in their various guises  there would be a new 'Titan' variant.

During one 'Product Day', a number of other manufacturer's models were used and analysed for the solutions utilised in their specific fitness for purpose. Amongst them a Mercedes G-Wagen (per what is now 'Professional' trim guise), Jeep Wrangler and Cherokee (then itself newly trendy in the UK), Mercedes Unimog, then Steyr-Daimler-Puch Pinzgaur  and a JCB Fastrac.

Unsurprisingly, the Mercedes products and the JCB Fast-Tractor were the most interesting.; the Unimog and Pinzguar for innate off-road capability thanks to high ground clearance due to its high torque Portal Axles, and the JCB because it had revolutionised the use of the conventional Tractor for Farmers, now able to use that vehicle as both in-field Tractor, able to speedily travel to the next field on the public highway and be used as a virtual cab unit when towing laden trailers on public roads.  The Unimog and JCB Fastrac had revolutionized their realms of use.

The idea hatched was that current Defender should continue being built at Solihull in SVO guise only for high profit clients; but be primarily built overseas in specific EM locations for export into the UK and specifically design an evolved Defender around EM development needs. Thus replaying the role it had undertaken in the 1950s and 1960s.

So the idea of a capability broadened Defender, re-imagined and re-configured, for their own national and export needs.

This met with Land Rover Marketing's edict of offering "the widest span of off-road/on-road capability" per L-R products, and would offer so much more to take an adapted variant of Defender back to its roots and so regain the brand value of 'Authenticity'.

Hence the basic notion of 'Titan' was born, and the accompanying graphic shows the very basic sketch and a 3-angle projection drawing of that basic idea.

[NB the name chosen precisely because it echoed of the mythological names given to steam traction engines that were so transformative to the production efficiencies of British agriculture in the 19th century].

As a basic concept 'Titan' was directed toward the newly expanding agricultural sectors of EM nations of the time, wherein small farms were being bought-up and locally conglomerated or local areas, or in a cooperative manner multi-families were doing the same so as to gain the advantage of scale.

And that meant for private company or cooperative, the ability to buy or lease new productivity improving equipment of all kinds.

(NB. Obviously 1997 had seen the 'Asian Tiger Crash' but the fundamentals of Agricultural Opportunities remained since so central to national development).

Unlike the US or Russia where by the scale-up of agriculture had been enormous in few short decades, leading to massive Tractors and Combine Harvesters etc, many of the strictly policy-managed EM countries were so reliant on agriculture and sought to avoid major land reforms to keep social stability, that they effectively proactively maintained a still relatively small yet enlarged productive farm units. Whether under family, cooperative or firm ownership.

So any new equipment needed to be better than old tractors and trucks but but also nominally smaller, affordable and ideally perform dual purpose - just as original Jeeps and Landys had been on farm in the USA, Britain and in the old colonies.

The idea was that Defender could get back to its agricultural roots, to include a substantively altered variant that would be inspired by the capabilities of the Mercedes Unimog, Steyr Pinzguar and the JCB Fastrac...as had been experienced first hand during that previous 'Product Day'.

The creation of a substantive business case and convincing product offering could be possibly achived through the deleting and various non-essential components from standard Defender to reduce basic build costs, and thereafter add dedicated functionalism through the addition of variously other dedicated parts.

These where feasible bought-in from what were commercially already available items (eg tractor wheels [using hub adaptor plates], portal hubs, 3-bar link, hydraulic pump) or provided 'at cost' from JV partners, and so CapEx investment would only be for low-cost tooling for simple functional solutions.

It would be a bare-bones Defender frame, cabin and powertrain (obviously diesel engine), to which was added:

1. Re-introduction of Power Take off Unit at rear
1a. to mechanically power stationary equipment
1b. to mechanically power attachable equipment via 3-link hitch
2. Ability to connect to other OEM and newly created LR attachment tools
3. Low crawler ratio in rear differential, aligned to tractor-sourced rear wheels (from JCB,  Kubota, local domestic producers etc)
4. Front portal axle hubs (Steyr-Daimler-Puch) for improved ground clearance (to match height of rear clearance from large rear diameter wheels) and strong traction torque.
5. Simple fold-forward tractor-esque engine cover (with detachable front wheel fenders)
6. Door apertures deploy either Safety Bar or full length translucent 'Plexiglass' plastic  doors
7. Seating simple air vented plastic moldings; Drivers seat sprung, Others as Spec'd rigid.
8. Bank of lights positioned down the A-Pillar behind similar 'Perspex' full length cover (for nightime field-use, so extending the working day)
9. Road-lights front and rear
10. Roof-top rack for task related items
11. Structural rigidity of body improvemed via X,Y,Z  dimensional bracing.    
12. Secure Strong-Box optional for security (eg daily labourer's pay packets)

Land Rover had previously licenced the manufacture of the original Land Rover to many other countries (Germany, Belgium, Iran) but Spain's Santana Motor is the best known since in the late 1950s. (They also licenced Suzuki SJ afterwards) and fundamentally re-engineered their versions of the series 1, 2 and 3 for EM and Military markets. But even that vehicle had typically been only the standard vehicle, since Spanish agriculture post had been through its own reforms regards scale efficiency utilising much FDI and so did not require such a multi-purpose tractor-truck. (That said, Santana did well its its own export markets because it up-graded and tailored the vehicle when Land Rover itself had retracted from global markets).

But by the mid 1990s - after the fall of the Soviet Bloc and new export drives by specific FDI revitalised EM countries - new opportunities appeared highly likely; akin to India's Green Revolution decades before (which itself remained largely static since, and also opportunistic)

Many of those small but transforming countries in Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia were growing their agricultural sectors deliberately slowly to help ensure a "rising boat for all" ; as seen with the econometrics of many small scale coffee producers and cocoa producers.

The 'brainwave' was undoubtedly seen as highly unconventional in what was actually an overly conservative business, but it should not have been.

'Titan' filled white space opportunity in foreign markets and would be a natural product extension to Defender. The idea seemingly ripe in a quickly evolving international agricultural sector and could be captured. Just as Honda had done with its 4 wheeled farm orientated Quadbikes in the Western world and EM nations, and JCB had done with Fastrac in Britain and Europe.

It was a dedicated product which not only fulfilled a need in specific farm operations and offered the ability to transport to market, so bypassing the haulage costs of the typical transport 'middle-man'.

[NB Hence obviously the notion of a 'Titan Trailer' (flat-bed with stake-sides and or curtains) used singularly or in pairs].

Moreover, unlike the typical development route for an EM country, wherein numerous conventional tractor companies enter the fray, vie against eachother and so destroy profits, 'Titan' had no immediate rivals.

Unlike the previous licensing deal with Spain's Santana, the business case here was not simply to licence the design itself and provide CKD parts or sell-off old tooling, but to actually grow Land Rover's presence directly in EM regions.

That initially done by expanding the remit and resources of Land Rover's SVO Dept itself a powerful fulcrum for commercial leverage given its long held global Military connections .

To 'prospect', beyond its own political contacts, the SVO division would also rely upon the firm's internationally located dedicated Sales Companies that acted as mini HQs for a specific broad region, itself geographically closer to any new specific EM growth opportunity.

From the Indian and Chinese aspects of the BRICs (as became known) to ex-Soviet Bloc countries to the SE Asian Peninsula, other once heavily Socialist Latin countries following the Brazilian growth path of the 1990s and in time even enclaves like Cuba (as came to pass).

So the business plan was to recapture those lost old 'colonial' markets and capture new specific EM markets. Those whose own agricultural sector either never been policy expanded until then, or had collaped or eroded years before (post-colonialism and under poorly managed 'Independence') and so had been stagnant and inefficient until 1990s rejuvination.

Specific obvious major opportunities within the socio-economically tightly controlled nations of India and China.

So a locally produced re-engineered variant of current Defender via mix of CKD and local parts content and off-the-shelf items, produced at comparitive low cost given then much lower labour rates. Providing potentially substantial new income streams from an expansion of Defender as a revitalised and (ironically) 'generically-tailored' workhorse.

A new segment created by which small and medium sized EM land-holders could use 'Titan' as their own version of a small JCB Fastrac, to revolutionise and so much reduced the 'down-time' inefficiencies experineced in conventional farming and produce distribution; especially so under the cooperative farms model.

If the theory was sound, was well considered, researched and executed it could allow Land Rover to gain new meaningful prominance in lost lands.

And critically provide basis for possible new JV partnerships with international Agricultural and Construction Equipment makers and possibly strong relationships with reburgeoning domestically renowned national vehicle companies

Thus the Defender "Titan" (or whatever best name ultimately chosen) would extend the Defender nameplate to re-expand and re-energise the original utility dimension of the L-R brand - so adding gravitas. Whilst also obviously providing new business possibilities and income streams from then and soon expanding EM regions after the 'opening' of China , India, Eastern Europe, and the Liberalisation of Latin America and Africa, aswell as other specific countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, The Philippines.

Many of these nations and regions were beginning to see their Agricultural sectors undergo 'controlled transformation' which mated new political central controls to laissez-faire  trade mentalities to attract FDI. So as to underpin their own national development needs gained typically from one or more of: the Commodities Boom, Sector Reforms, Labour Reforms and so expansive new waves of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary transformation.

As seen, the primarily identified countries were India and China, given the far more prosaic manner in which their governments were managing Agricultural Policy so as to limit the devastating  impact of massively efficient but socially disruptive Industrial Farming (as had been seen in the USA, Russia and arguably Brazil).

Yet within a Rover Group corporate atmosphere in which internal frictions and factions were seeking to gain divisional prominence aswell as 'up-manage' its BMW parent, such financially harsh and politicised times meant that any such lateral possibility of 'Titan' or anything similarly 'unconventional' - even though it struck all the business boxes - was 'far too left field'.

Inevitably, the notion did not get off the ground for full exploration and so would never get an airing at Board level, even though Land Rover's credentials and steady order book of foreign Military contracts into EM countries could have opened what were inevitably closely aligned  political and business doors.

Past Land Rover variants like the iconic caterpillar-tracked 'Cuthbertson' remain in the brand's and enthusiasts memory, but they sold in very small numbers. 'Titan' was to have been visually similar as a visually obviously task-specific product, but could have potentially seen sales sky-rocket with adept management.

Hence, 'Titan' was the succinct coalition of disparate yet ultimately unified and convincing thoughts as a way to revitalise the Defender nameplate (and critically provide a new enhanced financial basis for the NPD of its eventual successor.

It would have provided a new role for the all too mechanically 'agricultural' vehicle....in its natural home farmland setting...all around the world.

Where the DNA of a yesteryear Series 1 could be genetically spliced with a JCB Fastrac

Back to the importance of drawing and the graphic shows a thumbnail of 'Titan' in a mix of 1st and 3rd Angle Orthographic Projection. Yes it was a bastardisation of the norm, but it served its purpose. it was 'fit for function'.

The vehicle shown in sketch format deliberately without details of ladder frame and axles, so as to focus on the body. (A very basic interpretation of a Portal Axle Hub shown on the 3/4 view).
The drawing was 'off the cuff'; and so very basic and meant to provide only essential understanding of the theoretical product possibility.

And this is how visual communication essentially works in the real world of industry, when creation is 'on the hoof' simply to formulate and convey business ideas.

Automotive magazines and websites invariably purvey finished articles that are meant to 'sell' the idea to the Board or prospective clients, but most drawing done is for thinking aloud and showing basic theorums; whether in Formula One or for EM utility vehilcles.

So don't be intimidated by such drawing proficiency, since it is not the start point of the process, especially when it stems from the imagination.

Like the Land Rover Defender (or any still-born variant), drawing is itself simply a tool and typically the simpler the tool the more useful it is, especially when scribbling for oneself as part of the creative process.

In mythology the Titan were a second generation of gods - hence the suitability of 'Defender-Titan' as a name drawn from the original. The nomenclature was ultimately utilised by Nissan for its  San Diego designed American pick-Up Truck.

So although few radically conceptualised ideas actually come into fruition, for all sorts of reasons in business, that is no reason not to pick-up your own pen or pencil and sketch-out your own thoughts in 1st Angle or 3rd Angle Orthographic Projection.

The quality of the drawing matters less than the quality of the essential thought process and so credibility of overall vision.