Oops. We suspect someone is going have an interesting day on Monday. This is the new Land Rover Defender. And by new, we really do mean new. The new Defender it not on sale yet, the press releases haven’t been issued, and camouflaged test cars are still pounding African roads.

Yet here the new Defender is, photographed un-camouflaged, complete with engine specs… only it’s in LEGO Technic form. Oops indeed.

We can’t take the credit/blame for this one as we haven’t yet dispatched our usual team of Elves to sneak into The LEGO Company’s HQ to bring back previews of the upcoming Technic sets. Instead this image was found on the website of a British toy shop, where we suspect it’s been mistakenly uploaded far too early.

Unfortunately the 42110 Land Rover Defender set seems to confirm our misgivings about the direction the new Defender has been taken. Spy-shots of prototypes have hinted at a fairly generic, very un-iconic looking SUV, and that appears to be exactly what we’ve got here. It’s certainly not a design that befits the Defender’s incredible 50 years of continuous production heritage.

Still, the Technic model itself looks properly good, features a slew of new pieces, and we particularly like the olive green colour chosen. The new 42110 Land Rover Defender set is also packed with mechanical functionality, featuring a winch, working steering, suspension, four-wheel-drive with three differentials, and a four-speed gearbox. That the description also claims the officially licensed LEGO set ‘captures the vehicle’s level of refinement’ and features a 6-cylinder engine makes us seriously worry for the real Defender’s future though…

We expect the new 42110 Technic Land Rover Defender set to cost around £160 when it reaches stores later in 2019, and someone to be in a bit of trouble come Monday…