Bucket on wheels
Well-known member
BLOOD TRIMMED: For those who want the extreme version of the Defender, you can get a Corvette engine with up to 500 horsepower inserted.
He gets the jobs through word of mouth, social media or his spartan website. Customers are calling in from all over the world.
Sheikhs in the Middle East, American financial elite and Sotheby's boss in the south of France, Alexander Kraft, are among the regular customers.
The cars are sent by ship or plane to Graham's farm, where they are upgraded according to their own and Graham's wishes, and then sent back.
Many of them will return.
Possessed
- A requirement is that I like the job I have to do, because I only take jobs I want. Many of them are not used to getting no, and are shocked when I do not take the assignments, he says and continues:
- It still makes me laugh to this day, because these are people you would not think cared about an old Defender, but who are really obsessed with them.
EXTREME RENOVATION: Land Rover Defender is the very icon of old money. Scottish Graham and Outland Vehice make a living by completely renovating old cars for rich people around the world.
Why, he thinks, is obvious. The polite and low-key Scot explains that, like his customers, he appreciates the combination of quality and functionality. Like a Rolex or Barbour jacket that only gets better over the years, provided they are maintained.
It's just as much about putting your own stamp on the car.
Although few will protest on the Defender's square lines, there are fewer who, on death and life, want to doubt the car's inner hard plastic.
This is where Graham comes in.
EXCLUSIVE CLIENT COUNT: The customers who call in are everything from oil sheiks to southern France's dandy riches. And the waiting list is increasing.
Dashboard and door trim in braided, sand-colored leather? No problem. The floor and stirrup laid with teak, new seats, chrome door handles, blankets and a hatch for the dog in soft cognac? Sure. These are just a few of the requests people make to make their car theirs.
- It takes a connoisseur to understand what they are buying, what kind of materials are used and where they come from, Graham says.
Unsurprisingly, they are often the same ones who regularly frequent London's tailor-made street, Saville Row.
- They know how to appreciate the work, and often come back when something is worn or they want to have maintenance done on the car.
Graham is just a phone and a cargo jet away.
Quality check
However, he does not want to wear that he is a thousand artists. The other than him is better at, he puts away. But absolutely every little detail that is done must be quality checked before the car is returned to the owner.
So what does it cost to get the luxury version of a 1980s Defender? Around 100,000 pounds.
According to the craftsman himself, it is quite reasonable.
If you want to have the same work done at a larger garage, you have to settle for paying 150,000 pounds. They have to pay for electricity, rent and pay the employees. Here it's just me, he says.
But if you happen to want to dress the old carriage you have standing in the cottage yard in sable fur, you have to pull the break.
- I get far more requests than I can handle, and have to say no to many.
He currently has 12 cars in for upgrading, which he points out is a lot. The most important thing, according to Graham, is that he enjoys what he does.
- We have a pretty good life. We live in an old house, have horses and do not live a lifestyle to extreme levels like many of the customers. But the lifestyle is real, and what we do is inspired by our own life, taste and style, he says.
but it’s perhaps not that old. Infact land rovers in general . My Range Rover 2011 , I just love it . Such great value for money
made financial sense apparantly 
