In my humble opinion all they needed to do to make the trad more acceptable for a different/wider clientele was to fit some uprated more modern suspension eg wishbone front suspension and sophisticate the rear eg as with the last of the Roadsters setup, They had already introduced air conditioning, power steering maybe an automatic option for wider appeal.
AIUI the trad chassis is nowhere near stiff enough to support a modern suspension design.
Tim H. 1986 4/4 VVTi Sport, 2002 LR Defender, 2022 Mini Cooper SE