Yesterday

Classic Defender V8 gets OCTA colour options

A Works V8 Defender looks great - as does an OCTA. Now time to combine the two... 

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While the old school Defender experience may not appeal to everyone, we can surely all agree that every single one of them looks brilliant. Especially if Land Rover Classic has got hold of the car in question, and created a one-off V8 commission. To make the point even more emphatically, the Classic Defender V8 is now available with colour and trim options from the new OCTA. This risked looking awkward and anachronistic, the grafting of modern materials and shades onto a resolutely traditional car - but then it’s a Defender, which apparently suits everything, so the new options look great. 

While some colours were already available on both Defender (no joke, it was three different greys), there are now five shades never previously offered on a Classic Defender V8. While Patagonia White and Narvik Black aren’t exactly thrilling, the Faroe Green and Petra Copper pictured are much more the ticket. They seem both contemporary, as well as fitting in with the Defender’s rustic aesthetic. Shame about the black wheels, really, but they can be changed.

Sargasso Blue also promises to work a treat. Every Classic Defender V8 paint job takes 300 hours, and all colours (not just OCTA ones) can be gloss or satin, the latter like the 635hp newbie. Buyers can even get a gloss black grille and ‘Chopped Carbon Fibre bonnet script’, but maybe steer clear of those.

The OCTAfication of the old Land Rover continues inside, with a range of Ultrafabrics PU on offer in Khaki Green, Light Cloud and Lunar; if that seems a bit too outdoorsy, the Burnt Sienna semi-aniline leather (or just plain old black) join what must be an extensive array of interior options. There still won’t be room to rest your elbow in there, but it will at least look quite smart. 

LR Classic Director Dominic Elms said: “Defender OCTA is the most dynamically accomplished and toughest Defender ever made, while the Classic Defender V8 remains hugely characterful and sought after. Ever since Defender OCTA’s launch in 2024 we’ve seen an appetite from our clients wanting to commission a matching Classic Defender V8, which has inspired our Works Bespoke team to work with innovative paint and material technologies to create the ultimate Defender pairing.”

You don’t have to have an OCTA to get an old one to look like it, though, and we could well understand plumping for remastered old over new if there’s a choice to be made. Best be prepared to pay more than an OCTA for a Classic that looks like one, though: it costs £190,000 plus taxes to have Land Rover put the 5.0-litre V8 in, overhaul the chassis and rework the interior. You can be sure that satin finish for Petra Copper won’t come cheap, either. But what price standing out in a sea of modernised Defenders? Exactly. 

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• Land Rover launches new Classic Defender V8
• Mustang Dark Horse vs Defender OCTA vs Aston DB12

[Billy_Whizzzz]

All that and it still looks like it has a steering wheel from a Sherpa van.

[biggbn]

This looks brilliant, inside and out...

[Rob-s5mok]

Having had a look at several used OCTAs, the semi-aniline leather seems to be a triumph of suppleness over function. Maybe because the car is tall so people swig their butt cheeks onto it hard, but the side bolsters look terrible even after a few miles. I suspect JLR will be replacing seats before long.

The Ultrafabric is a revelation. I have never been a fan of faux leather but I am a convert in this car. IMO it's the smart choice.

[Ed Boon II]

That green one and the skid plate at the front is just

[Firebobby]

300 hours to paint a car. Hmm! What are they using a cotton bud??

[Dynion Araf Uchaf]

Firebobby said:

300 hours to paint a car. Hmm! What are they using a cotton bud??

Rattle cans! You try and make the paint look good when all you’ve got is some Halfords tins that keep clogging. Takes fking ages!

[AmyRichardson]

Firebobby said:

300 hours to paint a car. Hmm! What are they using a cotton bud??

Probably on par with the old "the first car X% of the world saw was a LR" - which you start out thinking "well maybe if you take a very specific interpretation...", then you mentally crunch it a bit more and think "no, just straight b0//ocks." So, they have form.

And do they all look brilliant? The old LR always struck me as a design on par with, say, a wheelie bin or a Bisley filing cabinet; a pleasing fitness for purpose is apparent, but there's nothing attractive about them.

[S600BSB]

Absolutely delightful. Love one.

[Deranged Rover]

I like that very much!

I was briefly worried they'd gone a bit tasteful, but am relieved to see from the bottom black one that they are still catering for the chav/drug dealer/parents of ugly children market.

[Motormouth88]

Love the green, don’t have an issue with the black wheels personally. On a side note, does anybody struggle with the lack of ‘The’ used in marketing jargon…I know it’s the done thing but damn, it reads pretty silly

[DonkeyApple]

Using the hedgerow to contain the back end and slough off a bit of speed is surely made a little more difficult with such an expensive paint job?

[Coalville Ed]

A Special Edition of a Special Edition of a Special Edition of a Special Edition of a Special Edition of a Special Edition of a Special Edition of a Special Edition of a ....
Wonder when the Dakar Edition will be out? Paints being mixed now I bet.

[Jurdy]

Love an old Landie....but at £220k ..... I'd rather buy a new Range Rover and a Ferrari 458...and never have worry about the bruises on my elbow, any door randomly opening or indeed being able to drive either car without the drivers side window being open!

[nismo48]

Billy_Whizzzz said:

All that and it still looks like it has a steering wheel from a Sherpa van.

True

[Clivey]

I do like Petra Copper. Fantastic colour.

Motormouth88 said:

don t have an issue with the black wheels personally.

All the whinging about black wheels on these forums does make me laugh. It seems to be a fairly recent thing but black wheels have been around forever.

[hungry_hog]

good to have that limited edition black option, all too rare these days

[Twinair]

The steering wheel - lol - I’ve stuck a MOMO alcantara in my Bowler…

As for the seats - I wonder if you could get these aftermarket? With the heaters in them..??

They look nice :-))

[DaveEvs]

Came to see the BL Marina column stalks.
Left happy.

[Lester H]

Very attractive. Great colour.I wonder if JLR ever wonder if they shouldn’t have binned the old Defender. There is a healthy cottage industry in refurbishing them, so a slow and steady demand exists and costs must have been amortised around a quarter of a century ago! Maybe II should meander past the local LR specialist, then chat to a favourite body shop owner who is very competent at spraying alloy.

[DonkeyApple]

Lester H said:

Very attractive. Great colour.I wonder if JLR ever wonder if they shouldn t have binned the old Defender. There is a healthy cottage industry in refurbishing them, so a slow and steady demand exists and costs must have been amortised around a quarter of a century ago! Maybe II should meander past the local LR specialist, then chat to a favourite body shop owner who is very competent at spraying alloy.

The investment needed to be able to keep selling them new was the major issue on top of just wanting a clean slate for the new Defender. In hindsight, the new Defender has been such an enormous success the latter wouldn't have mattered but the costs wouldn't have stacked up for the continuation. Much cheaper to just pick up used ones and redo them as customers require.