Driving the Land Rover Defender Classic: a review of the V8 off-roader that costs as much as a house
October 22, 2024 by Tom Wiltshire
Car changing is a big deal
If the new Land Rover Defender is a bit too high-tech for you, this could be the solution. We get behind the wheel of the Land Rover Defender Classic by Works Bespoke…
- New Land Rover Defender Classic V8 driven
- Restored, reworked and reimagined old Defender
- Based on the 2012 to 2016 model
- Rebuilt from the chassis up and endlessly customisable
- Gets 405hp 5.0-litre V8 engine and eight-speed automatic
- Prices start from £190,000 – and only go up from there
This is the new Land Rover Defender Classic V8 by Works Bespoke. It’s what you get when Land Rover has a metaphorical cabinet full of 5.0-litre V8 engines, a crack engineering team, and dozens of buyers eager to get their hands on an ‘old’ Defender that gets a few modern comforts.
It’s built by Works Bespoke, a division of Land Rover Classic which takes a donor Defender and rebuilds it from the chassis up. They shoehorn in a new V8 engine, and customise the car’s exterior and interior to the buyer’s almost limitless imagination.
The price tag starts at £190,000, and only gets higher as you go further into the customisation process. But what’s it like? We’ve driven it…
New Land Rover Defender Classic V8: design and build process
The Defender Classic V8 starts life as a ‘normal’ Defender. Land Rover prefers to source the donor vehicles itself, as it can be more selective. They need ABS and DSC, so they’re 2012 – 2016 models – some of the last produced. Land Rover will convert both short-wheelbase 90 models and longer, five-door 110s.
Once acquired they head to Jaguar Land Rover Classic – a 14,000 square metre facility that’s an absolute treasure chest for any classic car fan. Walk through the service area and one of its 57 ramps could hold anything from a Jaguar XJ220 in for its regular service to a stripped-down Series 1 Land Rover undergoing full restoration.
They’re stripped down to their constituent parts, and the VINs applied to a brand-new chassis. One of JLR’s fantastic 5.0-litre V8 engines is crammed into the engine bay, with a new ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic gearbox tacked on – no small feat in an engine bay which never accommodated an automatic or an engine larger than 3.9 litres in period.
From there, the customer is king. An online configurator provides the starting block but from there almost anything’s possible. A full palate of paint finishes is available, including heritage shades as well as those borrowed from more modern Land Rover and Range Rover models. You can choose from modern-looking alloy wheels or classic steelies. Seating ranges from classic Defender items up to Recaro sports seats, and can be trimmed in any colour of hide you like.
There are a few different grille designs available too, and a full gamut of accessories – from spotlights, to winches, to roof racks, to side steps – whatever you want, in a nutshell. Prices start from £190,000, including the donor car, but the model we tested came in at a much heftier £257,000.
New Land Rover Defender Classic V8: performance and drive comfort
Your first impression of the Defender Classic is the noise. It starts up with a bark and settles into a throbbing idle. The 5.0-litre V8 has always been a great-sounding engine – but in this application it’s ballistic, revving with a melodic bellow that is capable of turning any head.
The eight-speed automatic gearbox does make driving it a little easier than a regular Defender of this era, with its yard-long gearshift. It can be quite tricky to modulate the throttle out of junctions, and you tend to set off with a bit more drama than you were perhaps intending.
Put your foot down and the 405hp V8 engine is capable of getting from 0-62mph in around six seconds. Top speed is limited to 96mph for safety’s sake – a wise move.
Despite the modern engine it doesn’t feel at all modern to drive. The steering is the biggest adjustment if you’re used to driving more up-to-date SUVs. The wheel is enormous, and requires armfuls of lock to take even fairly mild bends. It also has limited self-centring, so you have to wind the lock back off as you straighten up. It means that cornering is a really involved affair.
The body constantly moves around as you drive, and if you hit a sharp bump it shudders through the whole car. It’s a delightfully analogue experience that’s totally alien if you’re more used to new Range Rovers or even the latest Defender – but it’s a familiar and comforting sensation to classic Defender owners.
New Land Rover Defender Classic V8: interior and technology
The Defender has never been a particularly spacious car for the driver, and that hasn’t changed. Tall people will find their legs quite hemmed in by the narrow footwells and seats that don’t go very far back, and anyone with broad shoulders will find themselves pressed right up against the B-pillar.
The second row is set much higher than the seats in front for a real cinema-style seating layout – and you can have an optional third row in the long-wheelbase 110, making it a full seven-seater.
The dashboard is a flat cliff-face covered in switchgear, with a teeny-tiny infotainment screen shoehorned into the middle. While it does have sat-nav, it’s best ignored and simply mounting a phone on the windscreen is definitely the easiest route to go for this.
You can choose between three kinds of seats – Standard, Premium, and Recaro. Standard seats are the same as you’d find in the regular Defender (albeit retrimmed), Premium are more supportive and feature an integrated headrest, while the Recaro sports seats have pronounced bolsters and race-inspired headrests. The Recaros look faintly ridiculous in the Defender’s old-school interior, but are the most comfortable.
The biggest change for anyone who’s used to a regular Defender is the fact that nearly everything’s trimmed in sumptuous leather – the seats, dash, even the headlining. It’s a far cry from vinyl and black plastic that used to adorn these cars.
It’s certainly more luxurious than before, but at the expense of some of the Defender’s workmanlike image – you certainly can’t imagine loading a couple of sheep into the now immaculately-carpeted boot, for example. However, it’s a rather lovely place to spend time, and you can choose from 13 different standard leather colour combinations or just invent your own.
New Land Rover Classic V8: how much is it?
The Defender Classic V8 starts at just shy of £200,000, and they only go north from there. The car we drove was a 110 model with a few choice options, such as an ‘Expedition Cage’, spotlights and winch – and cost just over £257,000. That’s the price of a three-bedroom semi-detached house just a couple of miles from JLR Classic in Coventry.
It’s also in the neighbourhood of some of the best hyper-luxury cars and SUVs, such as the Bentley Bentayga or Mercedes-Maybach S-Class. But the Defender is a totally different kind of car. It’s for people who have a deep love of this agricultural off-roader, and aren’t worried about how much they spend in pursuit of what the brand describes as ‘pushing the boundaries of what a classic Defender can be’.
You can spend less on a restored Defender. Various companies make their living in restomodding, upgrading or maintaining old Defenders, and a popular modification is to fit a General Motors LS V8. But these are by no means ‘official’, and often have fairly rough edges that only the original manufacturer can smooth out. The Classic V8 feels like a cut above.
There’s also always the option of the new Defender. It too is available with the 5.0-litre V8, but supercharged to give a ballistic 525hp – and it’ll cost you from just over £110,000 for the three-door 90. But it won’t turn heads like the Classic model, nor will it charm the pants off the owner. It’s a different beast altogether.
It’s of course impossible to give a Carwow rating to the Defender Classic V8, as its appeal is so individual. However, for any true Defender aficionado, the verdict can’t be anything short of a simple ‘buy it’.
Land Rover Defender Classic alternatives
What other SUVs could you park on your driveway for the same price as the Defender classic? Here are three to consider…
Bentley Bentayga Extended Wheelbase
For around the same price as the Defender Classic tested here, you could slide behind the wheel of a Bentley Bentayga Extended Wheelbase. Powered by a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine, it offers sledgehammer performance and almost unmatched comfort and refinement.
Range Rover
Maybe you want to stick with the Land Rover brand? Well the Range Rover could be yours for the same price, if not quite a bit less than the Defender. It’s effortlessly cool, lovely to drive and spacious enough for you and all of your friends, although the immense width of the thing can make it intimidating to drive on narrow roads.
Mercedes-AMG G63
Finally, if you want to stick with the tough off-roader vibe, you may want to check out the Mercedes-AMG G63. The G-Class started out in life as a military vehicle in the 1970s, and has evolved over time into the ultimate ride of the rich and famous with a thumping V8 under the bonnet and very well-appointed cabin.
So there are a few different cars to consider over the Land Rover Defender Classic, all of which are probably objectively better in different ways. Let’s be honest though, the Defender classic is a heart-over-head purchase for diehard fans of this iconic 4X4.
Looking for an easy way to change your car? Then Carwow is the place to go. You can sell your old car for a great price, and get the best deals on a new one. All through our network of trusted dealers and all from the comfort of your home. Tap the button below to get started today.