LS3-Swapped '91 Land Rover Defender Costs More Than a Cybertruck and Mad Max Would Approve
Add a potent V8 engine to the mix and you might end up with something that can keep up with the likes of the AMG-tuned G-Class in a straight line.
There’s nothing like taking a Land Rover Defender and making it amazing from all standpoints, because usually, these vehicles only excel at one or two things, but never more. They’re not quick, they’re not particularly comfortable, nor are they fun or easy to drive.
The cure to all that is to purchase something like this heavily customized 1991 Defender 90, which is up for grabs to the highest bidder at a rather hefty price. With just a few hours left to go in the auction process, the highest bid has already surpassed $120,000, which means it would be cheaper for you to just go out and buy a Cybertruck. The thing is, you might not want to.
Defenders such as this one are extremely desirable. It draws you in right off the bat thanks to its Project Kahn wide-body kit and matte silver exterior.
Other visual traits include the LED lights, X-Lander grille, modified Puma hood, fender vents, alpine windows, a NAS-style rear bumper, Masai rock sliders, custom shocks and sway bars, four-wheel disc brakes, plus a set of gray 20-inch Black Rhino Armory wheels with 33-inch Gladiator QR900-M/T tires.
By the way, this is a right-hand drive model, and inside you’ll find tan leather front bucket seats (also heated), custom wood accents (dash, center console, doors, footwells), additional sound-deadening material, black leather trim, air conditioning, power windows and door locks, a push-button gear selector, three-spoke Momo steering wheel, a tan microsuede headliner, plus an Alpine sound system with a touchscreen head unit and a backup camera.
There’s also a custom wood-paneled floor in the cargo area, while an enclosure behind the rear seats houses a set of subwoofers and amplifiers.
As for what’s going on underneath the hood, that’s where you’ll find a replacement 6.2-liter LS3 V8 engine, fitted with a 4.0-liter Whipple supercharger, to go with the custom cylinder heads and fuel system components. It’s hard to be sure exactly how much power it's got (the seller doesn’t specify the output), but however much there is, it goes to all four wheels via a 6L80E six-speed automatic gearbox with a dual-range transfer case and custom drive shafts.
I’m not going to hazard a guess with regard to the power output, but it should be quite sufficient. Let’s just leave it at that.
Earlier this year, this very same Defender sold for $150,000, but my sense is that you can grab it for less this time around. It could also do with a left-hand drive conversion, but that’s just me.
