Would You Spend $235K On An LS-Swapped Land Rover Defender?

There are several options for restored Land Rover Defenders out there, but Arkonik Defender is the only one that comes to mind that is based in the U.K., which is where these legendary off-roaders were built up until 2016. To show off one of its latest bespoke builds – an LS-powered 1989 Land Rover Defender heading to a customer in Texas – Arkonik made this cool video.

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As if a Defender with a fresh frame-off restoration wasn't cool enough, this one, which has been nicknamed Viper, is rocking a 6.2-liter LS3 V8 pulled from a Corvette with an output of 430 horsepower. This engine sounds cool under the hood of this Defender, but that isn't the only reason to love this rig. The exterior is finished in Aston Martin's version of British Racing Green, and the look also includes beautiful 18-inch alloy wheels wrapped in BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A KO2 tires.

Those meaty tires do a great job of filling the wheel wells thanks to Bilstein shocks with a two-inch drop. Yes, you read that right; the suspension was lowered. To purists, lowering a Land Rover makes absolutely no sense, but considering this one sold for $235,000, it's almost a sure bet it was never going to off-roading anyway.

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The interior is where this Defender really shines, though, with Nut Brown Nappa leather and a contrasting Ivory stitch in a diamond pattern found on the seats, steering wheel, dash and door panels. The front seats are racing bucket seats, while the rear passengers get side-facing buckets as well. This looks like a high-quality interior worthy of the Defender's price tag right down to the details such as the black suede headliner and upgraded digital gauge cluster display.