Land Rover built four colour-changing Defender V8s for one lucky client
One client, four V8 Defenders, and paint that refuses to pick a colour
Land Rover Classic has just pulled off something gloriously extravagant. It has built four matching V8-powered classic Defenders for a single client, each finished in a colour-shifting paint that flips between green, purple and gold depending on the light. It is the kind of commission that shows exactly how far bespoke car-building can be pushed.
Paint that takes 400 hours
The star of the show is the finish. Called Spectral Green, it is a colour-shifting paint that transitions between green, purple and gold depending on the viewing angle and lighting. Applying it is no small job: Land Rover Classic spends nearly 400 hours in the paint facility on each vehicle. Each car is finished with an Icy White roof, an expedition cage, a Defender bonnet script, hand-painted white coachlines and diamond-turned 18-inch Sawtooth alloys colour-matched in Spectral Green.
A new Double Cab joins the family
The four-car set spans the 90 Station Wagon, 90 Soft Top and 110 Station Wagon, plus a newly introduced 110 Double Cab Pick-Up, which makes its debut with this commission. Land Rover Classic is also expanding the range with a 90 Hard Top body style, a wider choice of roof colours and Trophy Pack upgrades, so future buyers get more ways to configure their own classic Defender V8.
Old shape, modern muscle
Under the classic skin is thoroughly modern hardware. Each Defender uses a naturally aspirated 5.0-litre V8 producing 405 hp and 515 Nm, paired with an eight-speed ZF automatic with a sport mode. The cabins are trimmed in semi-aniline Bridge of Weir Vanilla leather with contrast green stitching and leather-bound Superwool carpets, and a 9-inch touchscreen brings wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto into a shape that first appeared decades ago.
AutoNext Take
There is something brilliant about commissioning four colour-changing V8 Defenders just because you can, and it is exactly the sort of thing the classic Defender shape was made to carry off. The genius is that none of the modern theatre, the shifting paint, the 405 hp V8, the touchscreen, undermines the car's rugged honesty. Land Rover Classic is quietly one of the best in-house personalisation operations in the business, and this commission proves it. We would have one of all four, please, ideally with the paint doing its full party trick on a sunny day.
The Defender name is having a busy moment: read how JLR and Stellantis are exploring US-built Defenders, and how JLR has revived the Freelander as a Chinese EV brand.
