This car feels rather less prim and imperious than its name, The Admiral, might suggest.
It's dark blue, but there's nothing dark about its character. It's a restomodded Series 3 Land Rover named after its Admiralty Blue paint, which was used in period by Royal Navy on its posher staff cars.
This car is a one-off, one of three self-commissioned specials that Kent Heritage Works (KHW) of Tunbridge Wells will build in a typical year around its normal restoration and commissioned-modification works. But if you ask, they could build you one like it. This one is £195,000; in the frankly bonkers modern world, I was left a little surprised that it wasn't more.
Its starting point is a 1976 short-wheelbase (88in) Series Land Rover, whose chassis and body get stripped and restored, with the rear bulkhead moved backwards to improve room in the cabin. Finish and trim are, it's fair to say, improved, including leather and wood to bespoke luxury standards. Mechanically it's interesting.
KHW took a same-period Rover 3.5-litre petrol V8 and sent it off for some tweakery. It returned with a reground crank, rebored cylinders, new pistons and new high-lift cams, and it has had Holley fuel injection, different ancillaries and a custom stainless exhaust added, resulting in 250bhp and 220lb ft of torque.
This engine being quite spiky in a manual with lots of transmission shunt, here it drives through a torque-converter automatic 'box to calm it down a bit – an older ZF unit with four speeds, because that way it can retain the high- or low-ratio, rear- or four-wheel-drive options of the original vehicle, driving during my test in RWD high-ratio mode.
Brakes are (thankfully) uprated with Defender discs on the front and Freelander 2 discs on the rear, because they bring an electronic parking brake – one of a few subtle tech upgrades, like a fridge and a decent hi-fi. A less subtle one is the central touchscreen, which KHW's chief, Cliff Smith, having spent 18 years working for Apple, has designed to be of brilliant clarity for controlling the heated seats and windscreen, plus CarPlay of course.
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Turn it over and you are worm food.
Daft idea.
How does it resemble a classic Range Rover underneath with no coil suspension?
I dont think KHW will last long with this business model.
Yes, you can polish a turd. But underneath it's still a turd.
KHW have doen a great job on what they have added and changed, but it's still a classic Land Rover. Some cars just never lived up to their mythology. Being amazing off road doesn't compensate for being hopeless at everything else that a vehicle should do.
Sorry for my opinion. Not Sorry.
But I do hope they can sell enough to make a decent businness out of it. Why not.
Well that makes sense... the mythology was being amazing off road.
What like, having great mpg or sub 30 minute laps of the Ring etc
You should work for the BBC. "Some cars just never lived up to their mythology. Being amazing off road doesn't compensate for being hopeless at everything else that a vehicle should do."
They are two seperate sentences.
Irrelevant about the sentence construction, it made the statement: the Defender Never lived up the mythology BUT the mythology was being great as an off roader, and it does live upto that mythology.
Simplpes.
As the old saying goes, a Land Rover will get you there, but a Toyota will get you back again.