A Dutch tuner has built a convertible Land Rover Defender 90
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A Dutch tuner has built a convertible Land Rover Defender 90
There’s another gem that needs adding to the list of ‘single sentence horror stories’: “a tuner has revealed a modified version of the new Land Rover Defender”. Chilling stuff.
Except Neils van Roij – the designer behind a lovely two-door Rangie, a sub-zero Rolls Shooting Brake and a bellissimo Ferrari breadvan – is no bard of the macabre. His latest, via Heritage Customs, has been breathlessly described as a “more heroic version of the Defender”.
It’s been named the ‘Valiance Convertible’, built to each customer’s exacting requirements and a car that undergoes a thorough conversion process. There’s a three-stage workflow that involves an initial digital sketch mapping out the desired specifications, followed by the difficult bit of completely disassembling the donor car, cutting and then reinforcing everything.
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To this skinned and chopped Defender comes the new roof and its corresponding mechanism, followed by a full repaint and reupholster, and then a ‘testing and test mileage’ sign-off. This first car pairs perhaps one of the finest colour combinations possible for such a car: green outside, tan (ish) inside, steel wheels.
No great horror story at all, though the price might scare some: Heritage Customs said the conversion itself – not including the donor car of course – will cost upwards of €85k (minus VAT).
So let's tweak another gem in the list of 'single sentence horror stories': "the last man on Earth with an unmodified Land Rover Defender 90 sat alone in a room. There was a knock at the door..."
Photography: Neils van Roij Design
STORY Vijay Pattni
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