A notable blend of old and new for the Ineos Grenadier.

Land Rover fans should best stop reading now and click on something else.

Still here? Okay. Ineos has revealed images of its Grenadier cabin architecture and it looks fantastic.

The British off-road vehicle brand is nearly done with validation testing for its 21st-century Defender lookalike and we have driven a prototype. It is good. Especially if you are the kind of driver who needs something between the old Defender and the current Discovery.

The Ineos’ fascia is a veritable treasure trove of rocker switches, buttons, dials and knobs. By bucking the trend for touchscreen over integration, Ineos has effectively prioritised manual driver interfacing. A lot of it.

The steering wheel is a two-spoke design, with simple satellite buttons, and a thumb-operated hooter, for the right hand.

Grenadier’s centre hang-down section is bulky and rectangular. It contains the HVAC controls and these are particularly chunky. For those drivers who hate having to fiddle with digitally haptic HVAC controls on a bumpy gravel road, there will be much approval for the Ineos ergonomic logic.

By far the most interesting aspect of Grenadier’s cabin design is the ceiling. There is a generous roof panel with switches, reminiscent of aviation cockpit design. What you’ll find here are switches for the auxiliary battery and electrical system, and differentials locks.

Flanking the roof panel controls, are two skylights, which give the Grenadier cabin a generosity of natural light. It is unclear what coatings have been applied, or if these skylights will be adequate at keeping harsh sunlight dimmed, in Karoo midday driving conditions.

Between the front seats, you’ll spot the BMW transmission shifter, and to its right, there is something you’ll never ordinarily see in any BMW: a low-range transfer case shifter. Ineos has also chosen to use a traditional girdle-operated parking brake.

Digitisation? There’s Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, with all infotainment functions controlled by relayed by a 21.3-inch screen, with a rotary controller that looks like, you guessed it, BMW’s iDrive system.

Wanting its customers to use their vehicles in robust environments, and explore, Ineos has used water and dirt resistant materials for the seats and trim.

The luggage area has a non-slip floor and interestingly, asymmetric wheel arch intrusion mouldings, with the right side offering slightly less cross-loading space than the left.

Ineos is expected to deliver the first production Grenadier by October. Expectations are high.

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