Lando Norris takes delivery of custom Defender
British F1 star goes topless in Monaco with bespoke drop-top Land Rover DefenderFormula 1 racing driver Lando Norris has added a new set of wheels to his garage but this machine is set to be a lot slower than his current fleet of supercars.
That’s because the 24-year-old British racer’s new vehicle is actually a reimagined, retro-styled version of an older car, the Land Rover Defender 90… with a few McLaren-inspired bits, of course.
That includes a pearlescent Nardo Grey paint, mixed specially for Lando, along with a Muirhead Egyptian Blue leather interior, a colour combo influenced by McLaren.
Meanwhile, ‘Lando Norris’ iconography has been 3D printed and appears on parts of the vehicle, including in the centre of the hand-finished leather steering wheel.
Riding on adjustable air suspension and 18-inch gloss black ‘Sawtooth’ alloy wheels, there’s also a removable Marshall Kilburn II cubby speaker on board, along with an aftermarket Pioneer head unit that offers Apple CarPlay, along with a rear bench seat extension, to allow the Defender to fit six passengers in total.
Under the bonnet is a 3.9-litre petrol V8 engine paired with a manual transmission.
Specified by Norris himself and said to have taken more than 1000 hours to build and restore from bare metal, it’s also the first drop-top Defender built by specialist Land Rover restorers, Retro Automotive.
“When we consulted Lando about his customisation project, he was clear that he wanted the car to be completely topless, without any form of roof or sticks,” said Retro Automotive boss, Ben Davies.
“We’ve never had that request before. Customers normally want some form of roof on it, so this really enhanced the individuality of the creation.”
How did the unique Defender come to life? It all started with an Instagram DM (direct message), says Davies.
“Monaco is perhaps one of the most head-turning locations in the whole of Europe, so our creation for Lando will certainly be in good company. I’m sure eagle-eyed visitors to the area will be photographing the car for social media, which is exactly how Lando’s interest came about.”
“Lando had been sitting around the dinner table with some fellow F1 drivers and they were all chatting about how they loved the car and what the brand stood for,” said Davies.
“After he sent us a DM, we explained a little more about our philosophy, craftsmanship, and attention to detail, and we then set about consulting with him to create his own bespoke retro-styled Defender that will sit proudly alongside his existing collection of other head-turning supercars.”
Those include a McLaren 765LT Spider, McLaren 720S, McLaren GT, McLaren 570S, Jaguar F-TYPE, Rolls-Royce Wraith, and allegedly, a very rare Lamborghini Miura.
He’s also recently been spotted scooting around on this Senna x McLaren electric scooter, built by Pure Electric, which also happens to be his father’s e-mobility company.
Join the conversation at our Facebook page
Or email us at editor@carsales.com.au
Tags
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
