• Rare double cab pickup body style

• £20,000 Spectre build in 2017

• Full Service History

• Just 3 owners

• All the Spectre goodies and more

In 2015 the 24th 007 James Bond movie –Spectre, was packing cinemas round the world.  As usual in Bond movies, vehicles played an important part, and in this instance Jaguar Land Rover stepped up to supply all the vehicles, including a fleet of highly modified and menacing Land Rovers for the baddies!  Ten were built by Bowler and supplied through JLRs Special Vehicles Operations division. 

Three were destroyed during filming and the remaining 7, including one that had sustained damage, were subsequently sold by Bowler. With unique looks and the 007 connection they now change hands for big money on the rare occasion one is sold.  Prices have been in the £250,000 to £350,000 region, with the most recent sold in November 2021 at £365,000! 

It’s no surprise that with originals fetching those prices that some more enterprising individuals have created replicas for those who have a hankering for the Spectre looks, but don’t have quite the budget for an original movie Defender.  

The stunning example offered here was built by Elgin Autos in 2017/18 using a correct low mileage 2011 double cab pickup body like the 007 versions. That in itself is a nice and rare configuration. From that starting point the Spectre build commenced with superb attention to detail, using all the correct movie car parts, (plus some that are better), costing in excess of£20,000 to complete.  

The result is quite something to behold and, we are sure you agree, has the menacing baddie look.  It is thought that the Land Rover was then offered as a prize in a competition, and won by a gentleman living in Scotland who worked on oil rigs as a Senior Engineer.  Used sparingly when he was back on land, he covered just 6,000 miles over the following years. 

The Land Rover has covered only 56,100 miles, with approximately 5,000 added since it was upgraded to Spectre spec.  There is a Service History book with 13 stamps from new, mostly by MaCrae and Dick Ltd of Inverness up to 39,000 miles, and then various other Land Rover specialists.  

The most recent stamp is by Autotechnics of Chichester at 56,042 miles, so just 60 miles ago.  Unfortunately there are no invoices from the Spectre build, but we know that most of the parts were purchased from Devon 4x4 and the build was completed in-house by Elgin Autos. 

We are told that recently some areas of paintwork were given a bit of a tidy, particularly round the door handles and key hole, and the hinge areas although again, there is no paperwork for this.  The current MoT is valid until 23rd July 2022. There are two sets of keys with two remotes and a full JLR Owners Pack.

The interior is still Land Rover configuration, but nearly everything has been upgraded. Firstly there are extremely comfortable Recaro Sportster buckets seats in the front, beautifully trimmed in black leather and suede. The rear seats are black leather with white stitching, and the rear windows have a dark privacy tint. 

The red faced gauges are all by TMD tuning, and the steering wheel is the Spectre correct Momo item. The aluminium gear shifter and 4 wheel drive selector are made by Bowler who built the original Spectre Defenders.  There is a Pioneer DAB CD/radio fitted plus air conditioning and an immobiliser.  

Overall the interior is in clean, virtually as new condition, with very light wear.  We only noticed one bit of damage –a small mark on the top of the front centre armrest (see photo), apart from that the interior is excellent. 

You’d be hard pressed to find fault with the Defender’s looks, especially if you’re after something that has enormous road presence!  The dark Buckingham Blue paint is a really metallic blue that looks almost black in shade, but reveals its rich blue colour when it catches the light. 

The wheels are Spectre style 16” beadlock alloys, wrapped in huge 37 inch diameter Trepador Maxxis off road tyres, again like the movie version. Luckily these tyres are only lightly worn.  The Spectre cars were destined for a hard life, enduring explosions and roll overs so they had full external roll cages and roof mounted luggage racks, as does our example.  

Called exoskeleton roll cage it adds to the quasi-military look at a cost of £1200.  Add a deep wading snorkel, wing mounted air intakes, and black front grille with front nudge bar.  There is the Spectre correct front mounted WARN Zeon 10-S Electric winch with cable remote.  If that doesn’t extricate you from trouble you also have fat bonnet mounted rope for added gnarly looks!  

All the external lighting is LED including the head lights and tail lights.  There are four Lynx XS roof mounted LED spot lamps that are exceptionally bright, we reckon you could set fire to the grass with these!

With a nice fully stamped service book, and such low miles we wouldn’t expect the mechanics to throw up any nasty surprises, Defenders being well known for hard working dependability.  

Easy to drive with a six speed manual gearbox and power steering and there is plenty of torque from the 2.2 litre diesel. The underside shows a little surface rust but most areas are clean and unmarked.  There were no visible fluid drips or leaks and the Defender drives nicely for such a tall vehicle.

If you are a 007 fan looking for a chance to own a bit of movie history, albeit a reincarnation, than this would be a sensibly priced way to achieve it.  More likely it will appeal to a buyer looking for a Land Rover not only with massive road presence and tough looks but with the performance to back up those looks.  

It was amusing to watch the passers by taking phone photos when we visited as it’s virtually indistinguishable from one of the actual Spectre Defenders.  This Defender really does look the business – you could be the baddest Dad or Mum on the school run!  Do you secretly yearn to be a Bond villain?