THE world agrees the Defender is an automotive icon unlike any other.
But while Jaguar Land Rover has put the production of this very British beast to bed, its story rumbles on in the most unlikely of places.
Modena, Italy. Yup, the home of Ferrari and Maserati.
Ever imagined what JLR’s Special Vehicles Operations team could have done with a Defender? Well, former Lotus boss Dany Bahar and his crew have made it a reality.
He took us behind the scenes for a peek at his state-of-the-art coach-building venture, Ares Design.
With bespoke projects including a Bentley Mulsanne Coupe, a one-off reimagined De Tomasso Pantera and an obscenely roided Mercedes G-Class remix called the X-Raid (each yours for whatever you want to pay north of £650k a pop), his monstrous, supercharged Defenders are a relative snip at around £220,000.
Limited to a run of 53, this most extreme incarnation of the 70-year-old workhorse has been developed with Coventry-based Land Rover specialist JE Motor Works.
Under the generously vented bonnet lies a modified Range Rover 4.7-litre supercharged V8 pushing out 475hp and a roar from its twin side-exit exhausts that leaves its fancy infotainment suite redundant.
If you have ever driven a Defender, you will know it is no easy task.
Given this huge power boost, monster truck proportioned off-road wheels and further increased loftiness, it hasn’t got easier.
The steering wheel has got smaller, however, and it is now an automatic so your near quarter-of-a-million quid will require a smidge less effort to run.
And, wow, it’s a blast. Its physical presence results in EVERYONE stopping to let you past, but quite how this wildling would fare off-road is up for debate.
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That said, bowling this behemoth through corners didn’t deliver the brown-trouser response you’d expect, given the original Defender’s tendency to lean the other way. Testament to the AP Racing brakes and Fox shocks upgrades.
It looks insane, drives insane – and shows there is life in the old Defender yet.
You just have to talk to Danny about how insanely loaded you are first.