Land Rover’s recent reveal for their new-look Defender series has been one of the most talked about motoring events of 2019, and it has lead to a resurgence of interest in the older models.
While the old-style Defender was technically pulled from production in 2016, there is still a huge demand for the iconic classic and it may take some time for the Sir Jim Ratcliffe ‘projekt grenadier’ to deliver what will be the nearest thing we get to a brand new Defender.
However a North Yorkshire company has put a new ‘twist’ on the old school Defender by purchasing some of the final 240 Defender models to roll off the production line three years ago.
The company, Twisted, modifies and sells souped-up Defenders for those wanting to retain the classic design and admitted that they have seen a surge in enquiries since Land Rover debuted pictures of the forthcoming Defender.
"We are a 're-manufacturer', as opposed to a manufacturer, so as long as there are core base vehicles we can modify, there will always be a strong business for Twisted," said Twisted founder and managing director Charles Fawcett. "We have around 40 years’ worth of the highest quality Defender to choose from so for us, the future is extremely bright.
“The further we get away from the date when production ended, the more demand there is for the Classic vehicle. The waiting list of customers bringing their own vehicles to us is incredible," he added. "This has been compounded by the release of the new 2020 Defender.
“Finally, people are realising that this one is not designed to be anything like the original – they share a name but no DNA. There are customers for both the new model and the classic – both have a purpose, but people won’t be buying new to replace the original.
"Essentially, this takes the original Defender into classic car territory – and therefore increases its rarity and desirability."