1989 Land Rover Defender 90 Tophat V8

A Tophat speaks louder than words.

The Land Rover Defender. A car that was synonymous with snorkels, bull bars, winches, trenches and the savannah in Africa. These days, the average Dutch Defender has it a bit easier. The steepest slope is the bridge of the Prinsengracht canal, and off-roading through the sandy path to horse-riding lessons is also quite something, Baudouin! But oh well, the Defender, practical considerations aside, is and always will be an icon!

The four- or five-burner self-ignites lend themselves perfectly to crawling through mud and delivering a lot of power at low revs. The downside is that reaching 100 km/h is not as smooth as your average beard growth and they had the handling of a teenager walking out of the pub for the first time after the Corona crisis. Tophat made the Defender icon the ‘AMG-tjes and SVR’ren’ laugh with a toothache. How? Fully rebuilt with custom camshafts 3.9L V8, mated to a 5-speed manual transmission, breathing through a custom valve exhaust system, of course. Needed? Nuh. Fun? Gadverdamme how good!

And well you can put nice crosses on, say, Designo of the G these days, but nothing can match the Top(hat). Our Land Rover Defender 90 Tophat: finished in black with matching quilted leather upholstery. A roll cage for the exterior, 16″ Land Rover Sawtooth wheels, aluminium black checker plate mudguard covers, a KBX grille and air intake, computerised petrol injection, a NAS-style rear bumper, a Tuffy lockable centre console, reversing camera, Apple carplay, heated front seats and a custom stereo system for 6 passengers to enjoy. Or rather your surfboard; For at the Republic in Bloemendaal or crowdsurfing over the spotters on the Brink in Laren!

Will we see you soon?