Coachwork outfits treating old Land Rovers to large-diameter wheels, Corvette V8s, and quilted-leather seats is one of the more unfortunate automotive trends of our time. But I really like East Coast Defender’s Series IIA “Project Henry.”
The vehicle is aesthetically simple, the way the gods intended, and most gloriously even has small, skinny, spokeless wheels.
There’s really not much to it. It’s just lovely.
Brakes were upgraded, the transmission’s a five-speed manual, and the engine’s an LS3. If you’re looking at the picture of the engine bay, you might have noticed that the engine’s decorative cover says “Corvette,” which is where such a powerplant would usually find a home.
I don’t really get why more than 400 horsepower would be advantageous in a Series IIA, but at least an LS is ubiquitous enough that it’d be easy to work on. I might have opted for something more fuel-efficient, but it’s not like this thing is going to see too many annual miles anyway.
I’m still a little weirded out by the look of LED retrofits on pre-1980 vehicles. There’s just something kind of off about it. But I guess if you want real lighting performance, you’ve got to upgrade to modern light housings.
East Coast Defender didn’t include an asking price on this IIA build, but I did once drive one of its 110s which listed for about $US170,000 ($276,717). I didn’t really care for it, but it looks like “Project Henry” is a lot classier and closer to the kind of restoration I tend to appreciate.
This Chawton White IIA would look so good on an expedition in Africa with a lion sitting on it or something. Hey wait a second, East Coast Defender is based out of Florida… Does anybody know a place that might have big cats for hire down there?
If you want more pictures, here are way more pictures. (56K stay away! Hah, remember that?):