What do you do if your favourite car is discontinued? Well, if you're a billionaire chairman of a multinational chemicals company, after trying unsuccessfully to buy the tooling to carry on production of, in this case, the original Land Rover Defender, you design and build your idea of its replacement. That's what happened in the case of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, and the car in question, the Ineos Grenadier.  

Outside, our Station Wagon test car shares no tooling or componentry, with the original. Squint and the Grenadier could pass as an original Land Rover Defender. Look closer, and the Ineos's design is softer and slicker, with modern details such as the LED lights and larger door apertures to help getting in and out. 

Inside is where the real differences between the original Defender and the Grenadier can be spotted. The original almost felt like a reverse Tardis inside - with the driving position feeling quite claustrophobic, with one knee resting on the transmission tunnel, and the other tight against the front door. The Ineos has the same commanding driving position but feels far more spacious. It is not conventional, but feels more comfortable, thanks also to the excellent standard-fit Recaro supplied front seats. 

Interior highlight must be the cockpit-like centre console, with an array of large, clearly marked controls positioned underneath the BMW-supplied 12.3in touchscreen. Which, on top of showing important infotainment information, has a right-hand side which also doubles as the speedometer. Like on a plane, the switchgear carries on into the roof of the Grenadier, although these controls are for the off-roading modes. 

Space in the back of the cabin is also decent - with more than enough leg and shoulder room. There's also a practical 1,152-litre boot. 

Underneath, the Grenadier features proven off-road components, including a ladder frame chassis, three locking diffs, beam axles front and rear designed for maximum articulation, a transfer case for low and high-range drive, heavy-duty coil springs and off-road rubber. 

Power comes from a choice of BMW-supplied six-cylinder diesel and petrol engines. The 3.0-litre diesel produces 245hp, 550Nm of torque. On the other hand, the petrol that we tried makes 282hp, and 450Nm of torque. With both engines mated to a ZF-supplied eight-speed automatic transmission. 

As a result, off-road, the Ineos is pretty much unstoppable, and is very impressive in a utilitarian way - much like the original Defender. This is all thanks to the development work undertaken by veteran consultancy Magna. 

On road, considering our test car was fitted with BF Goodrich off-road tyres, we were surprised by what a compliant ride it had. Handling-wise, there's plenty of grip, but the tall body and soft suspension equal plenty of body roll. 

Still, the Grenadier's biggest issue - its steering - will stop you finding its low limits on-road. Carried over from the Defender, the Grenadier has a recirculating ball system. Designed for off-road resilience, which Ineos is marketing as a characteristic of the car, the steering is best described as slow and ponderous. The thick, two-spoke multifunction steering wheel doesn't help either, you find yourself feeding the wheel in corners - plus making constant corrections. Still, it does get better the more you get used to this car, but we'd much rather the more car-focused driving feel of the new Land Rover Defender.

Despite the steering issues, it's hard not to like the Grenadier. There's really nothing else like it, and if the latest Defender is too soft for you, the Ineos fills the utilitarian off-roader role that the original has vacated perfectly. Steering aside, the Grenadier is much nicer to drive than the original, with decent interior space.