The legendary Land Rover Defender – the original, not its modern reincarnation – is by no means forgotten, even though it hasn’t been produced for almost half a decade by now. An easy – but expensive – way of keeping its spirit alive is via custom projects such as Arkonik’s Oxygen restomod based on the hulking D110.
While the British manufacturer of the current iteration of the legendary Defender is mainly interested into carrying the legacy into the next automotive era, a lot of small businesses over in the UK and the U.S. thrive on bringing up the older generation up to modern standards.
With a little bit of customization interspersed, companies such as Arkonik can demand big cash from eager customers.
Take their latest project – dubbed Oxygen – for example. If anyone wants the exact specification showcased by the UK-based company needs to shell out around $185,000, and if there are special requests probably the sky’s the actual limit. But don’t think it’s an extraordinary figure, because we’ve seen other builds start from an even higher quotation.
Being as British as possible is always on the menu for a UK-based customization shop such as Arkonik that deals with one of England’s biggest automotive legends, so their new Oxygen Defender D110 (a 1989 example, actually) build comes with a Fungus Green hue for the station wagon exterior, while the quilted leather inside is decidedly... brown (aka Vintage Thatch).
While Arkonik is touting a diving connection, we feel the Oxygen will feel at home in any outdoor adventure scenario, thanks in part to its plethora of accessories which includes a Warn Zeon winch, lots of LED lights, KBX Hi-Force wing-top air intake, Front Runner Slimline II roof rack, or BFGoodrich ATs.
The company promises each example will go through a full, frame-off restoration with the engine and transmission (3.5-liter V8, five-speed manual, left-hand drive, 8 seats), while luxury touches such as the 18-inch Kahn Defend 1983 alloys, Evander wood steering wheel, or the Pioneer infotainment system with Apple CarPlay will make every journey a very comfortable adventure.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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