You might have noticed that Land Rover have announced a Remastered performance Defender; powered by a 5.0 litre V8 engine coupled to the current 8-speed ZF automatic transmission, the Works V8 hauls to 60mph in 5.6s and tops out at 106mph. Land Rover have also made changes to the driveline and suspension with an updated transfer box and reconfigured suspension. You can’t say that they’ve not done a cracking job – it looks and sounds fantastic, and the response in the press and social media has been overwhelmingly positive.
The question on everyone’s lips though, is “If you had the money, would you?”. There has been furious debate in the Land Rover community about the cost for the remastered vehicle – a not-insignificant £150,000 starting price, for what is fundamentally a used Defender! Some people have also starting asking whether you could effectively ‘remaster’ your own Defender to the same specification for less money, although with the engine and gearbox alone costing in the region of £20,000 +VAT you’d need rather deep pockets to build your own.
Regardless of people’s opinion on the asking price, Land Rover have not struggled to sell the swansong Defender – they have confirmed that all 150 of the limited editions have sold in less than a month after the initial announcement. We’re hoping that at least a few of these rare vehicles will actually get to see the light of day, instead of being hidden away with an eye on future values.
If you’re feeling brave enough, we can supply the parts you’d need for a replica Works V8, or any other custom build, just get in touch with your parts list!
