Heritage Customs returns with modern Defender pickup
- Heritage Customs expanded its lineup to include a Defender pickup
- The four-door Defender pickup will cost 155,000 euros (approximately $166,150)
- It takes three months to build the Defender pickup conversion
Jaguar Land Rover hasn’t indicated whether it plans to offer a modern Defender pickup truck, but a Dutch company specializing in modified Defenders is now offering one.
The company is Heritage Customs, which is co-owned by Niels van Roij, an automotive designer whose separate Niels van Roij Design has offered coach-built specials in the past, such as a two-door version of the previous-generation Range Rover, and a Ferrari Breadvan homage based on the 550 Maranello. The company also currently offers a modern Defender convertible, which is another body style JLR has yet to commit to.
Heritage Customs’ Defender pickup is known as the Valiance Pickup, and is based on the stretched Defender 130 SUV. Heritage Customs designed the modifications in-house, and performs the transformation at its headquarters in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands.
The cost is 155,000 euros (approximately $166,150), and that includes the donor Defender, in this case a Defender 130 X Dynamic SE.
The bed doesn’t appear to be particularly large, though for extra storage space Heritage Customs has added a roof rack. A matching sport back is also fitted to the vehicle.
The conversion takes approximately three months to complete, and includes not only the installation of a bed where the donor SUV’s third row normally sits, but also a full exterior paint job, a custom leather interior package, custom wheels, and decals.
Heritage Customs also offers an array of additional options and accessories. One of these is what the company refers to as Magic Metal. According to the company, it can apply a metal-like surface via a paint process, and this surface can even undergo an oxidization process to create a rust-like effect. This means that ordinary plastic parts can be made to look like aged metal with decades of patina.