Would you pay $422,000 for a 1984 Land Rover Defender?
With a thumping great V8. Custom interior. and looks to kill, this could be the nicest 1984 Defender on the planet. But is it worth $400,000?
Published on: 15 September 2022
Have deep pockets? Have we got the Defender for you.
$400,000. Just let that sink in for a minute. What would you do if you had a spare $400,000 rolling around under the cushions on your lounge? Invested wisely it’d set you up for life. It’d pay out most people’s mortgages. Kick start that small business you’ve always wanted to start. Or even send you on a round the world tour for a few good solid years. You know what it won’t do? Get you the keys to this 1984 Defender. You’ll need to come up with another $22,000 if you want to do that. Yep, Arkonik, a Land Rover specialist over in the U.K. reckons $422,412.75 is a completely reasonable price for you to pay for a 38 year old 4X4 that sold new for in Australia for a little over $17k.
“What the bloody hell does a 1984 Defender nearing half a million bucks even look like?”
So pardon the French here for a second. But what the bloody hell does a 1984 Defender nearing half a million bucks even look like?
Underneath
Rather than a simple ‘restoration’, each Arkonik Land Rover is essentially remanufactured from the ground up. They scour all of Europe to find the perfect platforms to weave their magic on, and then tear them down to the very last bolt. The frames are put on a jig, pulled back into factory specs, braced up with additional supports, and then rust-proofed and hand painted. Just that alone makes the Arkonik’s better than any Defender that rolled off the production line.
From here, Arkonik piece together a brand new powertrain. You get a few different choices when speccing up your own. There’s a few Land Rover turbo-diesels, but the build you’re looking at has ticked the box for a 430hp Corvette sourced LS2 backed by a brand new 6 speed auto cog swapper. It feeds into rebuilt axles front and rear as well as a brand new suspension setup with Bilstein shocks all round. BFG KO2 mud tyres are wrapped around classy black 18in alloys.
The body
Moving on to the body of the Arkonik Defender 110 and it’s quickly obvious the lengths they’ve gone to to modernise the classic platform. From front to back you won’t find a spec of rust, from the firewall up it’s all brand new sheet metal. There’s a host of different colours available but that classic Orkney grey is a strong favourite of ours.
There’s tasteful bar work all round, all new lenses, classically styled LED lighting and a whole host of must-have Defender upgrades like the checker plate wing tops, billet door handles, and a later model bonnet of the Puma models.
“From the firewall up it’s all brand new sheet metal”
On the inside
On the inside, the overhaul process shines stronger than ever. Front to back an entirely new wiring harness is custom built to suit the spec sheet you’ve optioned up. It’s one of the processes Arkonik have done to not only ensure reliability. But vastly improve on the original factory offerings.
Full sound deadening, and tailored fit carpet gets the nod. While every panel that can be painted is restored like brand new. All new windows, rubbers, and every clip and fastener that can be replaced is. One of the last pieces of the puzzle is that oh-so-gorgeous custom leather trim.
Like any Arkonik build, the trim is decided by the future owner. This specific model has gone for twin heated bucket seats up front, with matching twin buckets for the middle row. An additional four flip up seats are fitted up back giving a total seating capacity of 8. All the practicality of a minivan, with the price tag of a Lamborghini. There’s the usual suspects too like an Alpine stereo system and black suede as far as the eye can see.
You should buy one. Now.
Alright that might be a little aggressive of us there. But despite the frankly offensive price tag, we can’t help but fall in love with not only this specific Defender, but the entire Arkonik ethos. It seems almost ludicrous we keep lining up for watered down new 4X4s that don’t do what we want, while established businesses have shown they’ve not only got the nounce, but the capability to produce vehicles that do everything we want, and have proven to be able to do it reliably for the next 40 years.
If you’re keen for one of the most unique 4X4s in the country check out the Arkonik website here
Or skip on over to our latest yarn below
