Land Rover Discovery caught unmasked

In fact, you can match up almost every detail on this prototype to the concept. The SUV retains the subtle bulge that starts above the C-pillar as a tribute to the old Discovery, LR3 and LR4. The character line running from the fender vent to the edge of the taillight, the semi-floating roof design and the shape of the lights and front grille vents are all carried over from the concept as well. Outside of small proportional changes, this Discovery is a dead-ringer for its show-car predecessor. Clearly, the days of tall, upright, and boxy are numbered at Land Rover.

Our spy photographer also expects this new Discovery to trade its current body-on-frame chassis for an aluminum unibody. This wouldn't be surprising as the Discovery Sport also uses an unibody chassis with a mix of aluminum and high-strength steel. Expect the future Discovery to make its debut at the end of this year or sometime in 2017 with a supercharged gasoline 3.0-liter V6 and possibly a diesel 3.0-liter V6. Rumors suggest that the current supercharged V6 may be replaced by a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six from Ford, and a plug-in hybrid may also become an option somewhere down the line.