There’s no denying the huge success that Land Rover’s reboot of the legendary Defender nameplate has found, much to the delight of Land Rover and fans of the brand alike. Over the seventy-odd years that the previous generation of the characterful off-roader was built, many variations were sprouted, however the reboot, for now, only feature in short-wheelbase ‘90’ and long-wheelbase ‘110’ form.
The Heritage Customs arm of Dutch coachbuilder, Niels van Roij Design, clearly heard beach Barbie piping up at the back of the room, because they have decided to produce just the car for her – a drop-top Defender 90.
Just five of these convertible versions of their upgraded and modified version of the new Defender, the Valiance, will be produced in 2022, and it would seem as though five is the number they’re settling on. Priced at €138,000 excluding VAT, that works out to quite a bit more than a standard Defender 90, however you can assure the person managing the purse strings that its likely to be a guaranteed classic, due to the fact that they’re making so few of them.
For the most-part, the Valiance Convertible looks identical to the Defender 90 upon which is based, the only major difference being the part-electric fabric roof which has been engineered in to replace the original vehicle’s hard top.
Heritage Custom has detailed three ‘curations’ of the Valiance Convertible as an inspiration for potential customers; Cote d’Azur, Solihull Sand and Kokkini Paralia. Cote d’Azur, features bespoke blue paint and whitewall tyres, Solihull Sand references the original 1948 model and Kokkini Paralia has a dark matte red exterior paintjob, all three featuring bespoke detailing, customised interiors and ‘Magic Metal’ interior and exterior packages.
As with all of Niels van Roij Design and Heritage Customs products, customers are able to “work closely with their team of specialist designers and craftspeople via the personal commission guide called Architecture” a program through which they are able to create or enhance their bespoke, custom vehicle.
