How to look cool on a hot Brighton
day in a jet black Defender
It is hottest day of the summer so far and
we are in Brighton, the beach burn capital of England. We are cruising along
the boulevard in two expensively customized jet black Defender. They used to be
bog standard 2.4 90 TDCi XS models. That was until Neil Digby-Clarle and his
three sons from the Thatched Garage got hold of them. Now with an interior posh
enough to house the Queen and wheels fit for the next Fast and Furious movie,
they are the coolest Defender in southern England. Yes, even on a hot Brighton
day.
It's
not often that you get to use the word nippy when describing the Defender
The Thatched Garage near Eastbourne has
been fondly labeled the Home of The Man for Land Rovers and to find the man
look no further than founder Neil. In the late 1960s he used a Series IIA as
his daily commute into London, much to the bemusement of what he calls the
"city slickers who preferred 1st Class British Rail". In
the 1980s Neil suffered a midlife crisis and as a result he opened an
independent Land Rover specialist dealership, which to date has sold nearly
4000 Defenders in 38 countries. Now before you get too excited they generally
don't deal in anything older than ten years and when I took a stroll around the
place the cheapest Land Rover on the floor was of the African expedition type.
It looked as if it had taken a knock or two from the odd donkey or wildebeest.
Even that Defender 110 Country SW will set you back $19,425.
The
interior has been reupholstered in Magnolia Hide with contrasting Burgundy
detailing
This though was not enough for Neil and so
he bought a house in South Africa and when work demands allowed for it he would
hop into a Land Rover and head off onto the dusty plains. His favorite Africa
experience happened in Namibia's Caprivi Strip where he was the only Land Rover
in a convoy of Toyotas who were accompanying a BBC crew. During a rather deep
water crossing his Land Rover Defender was the only vehicle to make a
successful unaided crossing. As a result he was appointed the new expedition leader.
All this though is a far cry from where we
now find ourselves in Brighton and these are not the type of Defender you see
in Morocco or on your favorite green lane. As we head off the promenade towards
higher-lying ground I decide to floor it. The sound from beneath the bonnet is
like nothing I have ever heard from a Defender and if I close my eyes I could
be in South America on a Dakar rally stage. Fortunately I open them in time to
stop. Was a car with the aerodynamics of a brick meant to have 180 bhp? These
two we are cruising about in are the ManMade Sport Edition ($52,425) and the
ManMade Maximal Edition ($59,925).
What is the difference between the two? For
the Sport, think boy racer and red leather interior and trim. Neil's son Ben
headed up the Sport project, while Neil took control of the Maximal. So for the
Maximal, think refinement and Range Rover-like interior.
Some of you might remember that we featured
The Thatched Garage in our January 2010 and October 2012 issues. Those two
articles focused on One Tens that had been specifically restored and rebuilt
for Land Rover-hungry American clients.
Our two black Defender featured here are a
very different prospect. The Land Rover market as we know it is constantly
changing. As brand-new models are regularly introduced and time marches on our
classis market options naturally grow in size. Then there is another market
altogether. Some call it bling. Others prefer to use the term pimped, while
some say not for me and look away. Call it what you want but it is here to stay
and growing by the day.
Even
though the suspension has been dropped we did allow ourselves some gentle
gravel travel
Heaven alone knows what the Wilkes brothers
would have made of all of this. While the focus for the first Land Rover ever
built may have been agricultural here it is on looks, sound and tarmac
performance. I like to call it Grey Lane as the only place these Defenders are
going is the tar road. It is a reflection of the wide appeal of the Defender.
Even cool people want to drive them, provided the Defender looks cool of
course. So what if the suspension has been dropped by a couple of inches,
because they will not be going off-road in them anyway? Due to their
class-leading ground clearance they should still be able hop onto a kerb
without damaging the 20-inch Black Manta Nero Alloy Wheels.
