Defender Awards, Range Rover Branding Confusion & Joe Hesselman’s LR4 ‘El Camino’ Build

Steve Beres and Ike Goss discuss JLR’s new international Defender Awards and how they differ from the existing Defender Service Awards, including the judging-panel process and some winners. They review spy-photo news suggesting the Range Rover Velar is becoming a more wagon-like, road-focused vehicle, and debate why the newer Range Rover logo appears inconsistently on vehicles and the website. They cover controversy around a Chinese company’s Range Rover-like vehicle and ad copy. Steve then interviews Joe Hesselman of Lost Cause Ranch about his new car-wash-based shop with three-phase power and expanded CNC capabilities, plus his Land Rover projects including a six-wheel Discovery 2 and a Discovery 4 chopped into a tray-back “El Camino”-style pickup with custom aluminum flatbed and toolboxes. The episode ends with a brief film recommendation, "Sorcerer" (1978). 00:00 Show Intro and Hosts 01:20 Defender Awards Explained 03:53 Winners and Weird Highlights 04:57 Velar Update Wagon Talk 06:40 Range Rover Logo Mystery 08:27 China Copycat Ad Drama 11:02 Defender Lookalike SUVs 17:51 Interview Joe Lost Cause 19:15 New Ranch CNC Upgrades 24:35 Fleet Updates and 6x6 Disco 27:43 Chopping a Discovery Tease 28:13 El Camino Dreaming 29:38 Why Cut the LR4 30:37 Sourcing the Rear Cap 31:31 Slicing It in Half 33:53 Designing the Flatbed 36:28 All Aluminum Fabrication 39:58 Underbed Box Mastery 42:09 CNC Press Brake Talk 45:57 Future Ranch Projects 49:54 Utes and Car Culture 52:08 Sorcerer Movie Pick 54:23 Wrap and Next Week