Carscoop reader Richard G. just dropped this picture of Land Rover's Range Rover Evoque Convertible into our mailbox.

This is the first time we see the British firm's study with its fabric top in the up position as both Land Rover's official images as well as the single photo of the car spotted by a Twitter user on the streets of London over the weekend, depicted the Evoque Convertible with its roof open.

Land Rover only just released official images of its conceptual Range Rover Evoque Convertible on Friday, but we already have the first sighting of the drop-top crossover on the road, courtesy of Twitter user Simon Truscott who captured the car on the streets of London yesterday morning.

The British company said it would display the Range Rover Evoque study at the Geneva Auto Salon in March to explore the potential for a production version, which if approved, wouldn't take too long to develop and reach showrooms.

It was rumored for a long time that Land Rover was mulling the development of an open-top version of its Range Rover Evoque crossover and now, the British automaker has lifted the wraps off a concept version ahead of its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

As it seems, Land Rover wants to measure reactions at a couple of international events that will very likely include the New York Auto Show in April before it gives the green light for the production model, which could follow as early as next year.

Given that since June 2008, Indian conglomerate Tata owns Land Rover, the presence of the British firm's DC100 concepts that preview a replacement for the iconic Defender at the 2012 New Delhi Auto Show was a certainty.

The Defender Concept 100 and Defender Concept 100 Sport, as the three-door hardtop and open-top versions are named respectively, are identical to the revised models launched at the 2011 Los Angeles Motor Show save for a couple of differences.

In keeping with its tradition of showing up at the Bologna Motor Show with an impressive concept, Italian tire manufacturer Marangoni chose this year's edition of the venue to reveal the Range Rover Evoque HFI-R.

The first thing that catches your eye as you look at the pictures is the experimental ruby red coloured Marangoni tires – well, for many it will actually be the curvalicious brunette model but that's irrelevant to this story.

Marangoni says that the bespoke “M-Power EvoRed” tires are made from special compounds with high silica content that helps rolling resistance and consequently fuel consumption. The 255/30R20 tires are wrapped around a new set of 20-inch alloy wheels from O.Z. Racing.

In addition, the bodywork of the car has been completely repainted in a special satin paint called Titanium Fluid Metal while the roof, the pillars, the door handles and the grille are finished in gloss black.

Land Rover would like to know if there is an appetite for the next generation of the Defender that is being previewed by a pair of new concept models.

To that end, the British automaker brought both its DC100 hardtop and DC100 Sport convertible 4x4 studies to this week's Los Angeles Auto Show to gauge customer reactions and explore the possibility of bringing the Defender back to the US market.

"Our intention is to introduce the all new Defender in the middle of the decade - there's a lot of work to do to meet these dates and our concepts are just the start of the journey," says John Edwards, Land Rover Global Brand Director. "We are here in LA to showcase our DC100 and DC100 Sport concepts and start to actively explore the possibility of bringing the future Defender to North America."

Visitors attending next week's 2011 Los Angeles International Automobile Show (November 16 to 28) will have the opportunity to witness the latest offerings from Jaguar and Land Rover, one of which will make its world premiere.

The new XKR-S Convertible is the model that will make its first-ever public outing – at least in production form, as we’ve already scooped prototypes doing the rounds at the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

The news comes courtesy of Edmund's Insideline, which had a brief encounter with Land Rover Global Brand Director, John Edwards.

The British firm's executive told the news outlet that Land Rover is testing the waters with the DC100 concepts and that it is a working project.

Land Rover has already announced plans to replace the Defender with a brand-new model in four years from now. It has even displayed not one, but two such concepts named DC100 at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show, previewing the 4x4 model’s successor in three-door form.

This, however, does not mean that the current Defender, which traces its roots back original Land Rover Series launched in 1948, will be discontinued.

Six decades is a very long time - and an eternity if we are talking about cars. Yet that’s the lifespan of the Defender, which was first launched way back in 1949. Over the years, it has been updated numerous times but even so, all versions were built on just two core platforms.

Now even Land Rover admits that the time has come for the current Defender to make way for a brand-new model. The first step is the presentation of not one, but two concepts, the DC100 and DC100 Sport at the Frankfurt Motor Show, both of which preview the production version set to launch in 2015.

While Land Rover will be testing the design waters for the next generation of the iconic Defender with its DC100 Concept in Frankfurt, British tuning firm Project Kahn is already imagining ways of enhancing and personalizing the potential replacement for the automaker's most famous model through some photoshop wizardry.

Project Kahn dreamed up four different variants of the DC100, the first of which simply features a white paint job along with the tuning firm's trademark multispoke alloy wheels finished in black.

The Land Rover Defender is without doubt, one of the most renowned and recognizable off-road models in the world, which makes designing a replacement model an extremely challenging task, to say the least.

But the British automaker, which is now under the control of India's Tata Motors, believes it's time to move on and prepare fans of the vehicle and consumers alike for the next generation of its iconic Defender with the presentation of the DC100 concept that will bow in Frankfurt next month.