One-off Selfridges V8 Defender revealed
With construction of the reconstruction now complete, there's finally a reason to go to Selfridges...
UPDATE - 29.10.18
The so-called Selfridges Edition Defender V8, which started life as a humble 2016 110 2.2 TDCi Pick Up, has taken pride of place at the Oxford Street department store, giving us the chance to finally see the car in all its one-off glory. Anyone lucky enough to walk through (or get dragged to) the new menswear section this morning will presumably have seen the completed car already after it took three technicians four days to rebuild it from a rolling chassis.
That's additional to the 930 hours of expert care already spent on turning the Pick Up from diesel-chugging workhorse into a petrol-quaffing 405hp show pony. As we detail below, it now features a number of bespoke elements, including Bronze Green paint, retro-style seats, Selfridges badging and, of course, the branded hood in trademark yellow.
Land Rover says the car is on 'permanent display' in the menswear department and that visitors will be permitted to clamber in and out of it to 'get a real feel for the iconic British vehicle'. Sounds like a nightmare for the chocolate leather, although we'll admit to being intrigued by the prospect of an open-top V8 given the enlivening effect the engine had on the conventional Defender. Perhaps when two million shoppers are through with it, we might actually get to see it on the road. Or even off it. Where it should be.
ORIGINAL STORY - 09.10.18
Those of you who fear that the agrarian, utilitarian, go-anywhere-ian practicality of the previous Defender won't make its way beyond the marketing bumf of the replacement, look away now. Because, despite this particular story being about an admittedly very cool version the good ol' off-roader - a car which JLR keeps finding excuses to resurrect, Zonda-style - its angle seemingly reveals a great deal about the demographic Land Rover now aims to appeal to.
See, Land Rover Classic has announced the creation of a one-off Defender, based around the advancements made for its 70th anniversary Works V8 cars. As such it features the chassis and powertrain upgrades introduced on that model, including a 405hp, 380lb ft V8 mated to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission, as well as uprated brakes and suspension. Inside, 'period-style' seats with chocolate leather upholstery and ivory cross-stitching are combined with an infotainment system housed in a classically-styled head unit, a heritage-style folding windscreen and half-height doors to deliver modern comfort and convenience in a retro-inspired package. So far so good.
The vehicle, which began life as a 2016 Defender 110 Pick Up but has officially been converted into a 110 Soft Top, is finished in Bronze Green with a branded hood in trademark Selfridges yellow. Why Selfridges yellow? Because upon completion of the project, Land Rover Classic's engineers' next task was to part disassemble the Defender and cart it down to London, where its chassis was rolled through a first floor window of the famous department store.
Here it will form the centrepiece of the new Selfridges menswear department when it opens on October 29th, having been reassembled live in front of customers over the next four days, and then kept under a protective cover while remodelling of the floor itself is completed over the following weeks.
Explaining the stunt, JLR Classic Director, Tim Hannig, said: "Our skilled engineers and craftsmen can tailor vehicles to meet any request, from applying unique paintwork or interior trim to delivering far-reaching mechanical enhancements. The Selfridges Edition shows what can be achieved and we can't wait to see it take pride of place in the famous department store."
Soft tops, of course, have a special place in Land Rover lore, with both pre-production examples of the Series I and the final ever Defender sporting the design. The motivation for this project though feels quite far removed from the objectives of its forbears. Wealthy and fancy an old Defender? Pay Land Rover Classic to have it tarted up. Wealthy and want a new Defender? Well, watch this space...
I blame Octane , Classic and Sports Car and all those beardy off- grid survivalists who have a thing about dicking about with winches at weekends ...
Didn't the same thing happen in the 80s? Products were a bit past it, and overtaken by others with better technology and smarter looking vehicles with similar capabilities?
I love my Vogue and loved the Discovery 3 i had before it, but i find it hard to love the new Disco - i thought it was grower but it doesn't seem to be for me.
The final edition of the Disco 4 was to my eyes a better looking car. This is the one that they should have 'Done a G-Wagen' to' and let the defender be the icon that it was and allow it nostalgically disappear over the horizon.. Doing a G-Wagen on this Disco 4 would have created brand cache etc, while allowing the new model to sit in the line up like the Merc GLS. Disco 4 with an SVR engine and flat screen info centre plus all the other tech / off road ability, for 120-140k? certainly sir, step this way....
There is a lot of people in the midlands who would much prefer the brand to look at ways to produce relevant vehicles for their markets rather than impress a few people on zone 1 and tourists - many of whom will take photos but wold never dream of buying a Land Rover.
The only saving grace is - when BL woke to the fact that they were missing the market, they went away and came back with the Discovery. Hopefully they will do the same again...
my two pence.... good luck to JLR.
Maybe i'd stop short of 'money for old rope' but they seem to be generating some relatively easy money with these E-Type recreations & Defender 'works' specials etc. Though the cynic in me would say it's a fine line between capturing a market trend, and scraping the bottom of any saucepan to earn a few quid.
I would say in the UK and Ireland I see quite a lot of relatively new Range Rovers / Land Rovers, appealing to those who perhaps like to parade a bit of wealth around, but I'd doubt that amounts to a particularly large worldwide sales volume. Personally, I think JLR have oversaturated with too many very similar models and have dragged their feet with the Defender replacement. I think they need a utilitarian model as some kind of 'halo' model to remind the world of what Land Rover's roots are..
If I were to really go for broke, I'd go for a more upmarket Suzuki Jimny, which when you go around the houses would effectively be a more modern Defender... So perhaps the lack of a new true Defender, has been a bigger weakness for JLR than we think..
I don't doubt when they are done with it in store, it will be sold to a collector who will stash it away somewhere.
I see a lot of people are looking at this cynically but vehicles like this are rapidly becoming trinkets. In real terms, high end car brands are marketing themselves in the same way as fashion brands such as Burberry, Louis Vuitton etc.
The car industry is changing and if this is what they have to do to adapt then so be it, if we like it or not.
Compare with BMW - I can’t imagine they make much profit on the M3, but it’s an important part of their high performance image and it helps them sell a lot of 318d M-Sports...
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff