Off With His Head: Heritage Customs Shows an Open-Top Defender

by Matthew Guy

Published: May 9th, 2023

off with his head heritage customs shows an open top defender

It’s an open secret that most of us here are fans of the new Defender. Comfortable, capable, and shod with boxy good looks, the off-roader checks many boxes on our list – except one: Wrangler- or Bronco-style open-air wheeling.

A custom shop in The Netherlands has changed that with a new creation called the Valiance.

Obviously based on the 2-door Defender 90, the Valiance concept features bespoke wheels, special paints, and unique exterior details – not the least of which is ditching the metal roof in favor of something a bit more comfortable. Far from a backyard Sawzall job, this conversion involves a semi-electric soft top, roll cage which conforms to FIA standards, snazzy new wheels, different upholstery (water resistant, perhaps), and the expected scattershot blast of badges and emblems.

The work is done in stages, starting with disassembly of the donor car and taking a host of measurements. Cutting into the Defender and adding reinforcements is the next step, prior to building any required metal work and the top itself. That’s all followed by paint and upholstery prior to running the thing through a battery of tests before delivery.

This convertible roof is opened electrically by the switch of a button, after manually releasing the latches, explaining the “semi” part of its description. Heritage Customs holds no stock of Valiance Convertibles on site since each conversion is designed specifically to customer wishes and requests. Depending on spec, it can take upwards of 3 months to create one of these machines. We’ll argue the lump of gathered roof material at the back of this car when its top is lowered isn’t the most elegant of styles, but that’s the price of exclusivity. Besides, if it was good enough for some other cabrios in history, it’s good enough for the Valiance.

Price? Depends on yer tastes. According to Heritage Customs, prices are based on “indicative estimates and personal wishlist”, suggesting buyers are free to add custom touches beyond the decapitation. However, they do suggest that a convertible conversion could cost approximately 85,000 Euros plus tax, or roughly 93 grand in Freedom Bucks. In other words, if you ever see one on this side of the pond, a six-figure price tag is all but assured.

[Images: Heritage Customs]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.

#LandRover #Defender #Offroad #Customs

Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

More by Matthew Guy

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 6 comments

Kwik_Shift_Pro4X on May 10, 2023

Lada should make a full size Niva to compete.

Like Reply
Dukeisduke on May 10, 2023

At this point, Land Rover has fully jumped the shark.

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Varezhka I have still yet to see a Malibu on the road that didn't have a rental sticker. So yeah, GM probably lost money on every one they sold but kept it to boost their CAFE numbers.I'm personally happy that I no longer have to dread being "upgraded" to a Maxima or a Malibu anymore. And thankfully Altima is also on its way out.
Tassos Under incompetent, affirmative action hire Mary Barra, GM has been shooting itself in the foot on a daily basis.Whether the Malibu cancellation has been one of these shootings is NOT obvious at all.GM should be run as a PROFITABLE BUSINESS and NOT as an outfit that satisfies everybody and his mother in law's pet preferences.IF the Malibu was UNPROFITABLE, it SHOULD be canceled.More generally, if its SEGMENT is Unprofitable, and HALF the makers cancel their midsize sedans, not only will it lead to the SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST ones, but the survivors will obviously be more profitable if the LOSERS were kept being produced and the SMALL PIE of midsize sedans would yield slim pickings for every participant.SO NO, I APPROVE of the demise of the unprofitable Malibu, and hope Nissan does the same to the Altima, Hyundai with the SOnata, Mazda with the Mazda 6, and as many others as it takes to make the REMAINING players, like the Excellent, sporty Accord and the Bulletproof Reliable, cheap to maintain CAMRY, more profitable and affordable.
GregLocock Car companies can only really sell cars that people who are new car buyers will pay a profitable price for. As it turns out fewer and fewer new car buyers want sedans. Large sedans can be nice to drive, certainly, but the number of new car buyers (the only ones that matter in this discussion) are prepared to sacrifice steering and handling for more obvious things like passenger and cargo space, or even some attempt at off roading. We know US new car buyers don't really care about handling because they fell for FWD in large cars.
Slavuta Why is everybody sweating? Like sedans? - go buy one. Better - 2. Let CRV/RAV rust on the dealer lot. I have 3 sedans on the driveway. My neighbor - 2. Neighbors on each of our other side - 8 SUVs.
Theflyersfan With sedans, especially, I wonder how many of those sales are to rental fleets. With the exception of the Civic and Accord, there are still rows of sedans mixed in with the RAV4s at every airport rental lot. I doubt the breakdown in sales is publicly published, so who knows... GM isn't out of the sedan business - Cadillac exists and I can't believe I'm typing this but they are actually decent - and I think they are making a huge mistake, especially if there's an extended oil price hike (cough...Iran...cough) and people want smaller and hybrids. But if one is only tied to the quarterly shareholder reports and not trends and the big picture, bad decisions like this get made.