This Land Rover Defender 6×6 Restomod Is a Road Beast With Good Manners
Few cars of any size, shape, or style can hope to turn as many heads as a Land Rover Defender 6×6—especially when it’s a restomod. That’s what I discovered when piloting just such an example from David and Cole Manz, the father-son duo who founded the Defender restomod outfit Manz Motor Company from their barn in New Hampshire about five years ago.
The Manz team, like so many other similar operations, adds modern performance and luxe appointments to the classic, formerly utilitarian Land Rover Defender platform. After all, driving an unmodified classic Land Rover Defender quickly becomes an exercise in traveling slowly due to underpowered drivetrains and minimal braking muscle. Then there’s the steering of a land yacht and suspension that creaks and rattles over just about any road imperfection. Yet this reimagined Defender 6×6, despite its 27-foot length and 7,000-pound weight, has a steering system that noticeably firms up and improves the precision lacking on older Landies, thanks largely to the more powerful hydraulic power-steering pump of the Corvette’s 480 hp V-8 engine.
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In fact, from behind the wheel, it’s almost easy to forget that there’s another axle all the way at the rear of the build. That’s because Cole Manz made the decision to equip the rear axle with far softer springs to allow the front two axles to handle most of the driving dynamics. And same goes for the true six-wheel-drive power train, which runs in full-time four-wheel drive as standard, and can then activate a custom transfer case ahead of the middle axle to send power to the rearmost wheels when required.
That transfer case looks and functions very similarly to that of a Mercedes-Benz Unimog’s portal axles, with an onboard air compressor to engage it and gears that send power up and over the middle axle to a propshaft that continues rearward. But Manz decided not to re-gear the Defender 6×6’s final drive ratios, despite stepping up to 35-inch tires. Braking components from Wilwood help to rein in all that significant weight and power, so this vehicle never feels unwieldy at highway speeds.
But perhaps the biggest single improvement over the old Defender also represents something of a surprising choice: the use of lower durometer polyurethane bushings. Typically, most restomod companies attempt to firm up the suspension of older trucks in the hopes of producing driving dynamics more akin to a modern unibody crossover (and the new Defender). Instead, this 6×6 takes a different tack. The softer bushings pair with Fox 2.0 shock dampers to provide a taut platform, which prevents excessive body roll, but without sacrificing overall compliance, meaning that rough roads or undue undulations never reverberate into the upright passenger compartment.
The classic seating position rides high and vertical, allowing for plenty of visibility over the hood. And offset pedals may entice some drivers to immediately begin left-foot braking. Behind the front buckets, the rear seats provide minimal legroom and require a similarly upright posture that may become uncomfortable on longer road trips. Then there’s the half-rack in the bed, which prevents much use of the troop-carrier-style rear bench either. Drawbacks to be sure.
Another sticking point for me was that a few modern touches throughout the build tend to clash with the overall appearance and spirit, especially the carbon-fiber hood and the digital push-button gear selector on the center console, both of which seem entirely out of place. But Manz will spec a true gearshift lever to match the transfer-case shifter in classic style, and specific build preferences can drop the use of carbon fiber altogether.
Land Rover originally built a small run of Defender 6×6 to serve as troop transports, ambulances, and safari vehicles. As for Manz Motor Company’s $400,000 reinterpretation, it was developed as an engineering exercise to attract attention to the company’s more typical Defender projects, which it plans to limit to four to six builds per year, each with current lead times that fall in the six-month range.
Click here for more photos of Manz Motor Company’s Land Rover Defender 6×6 restomod.
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