Twenty-five of the first series have been located around the world and will be restored from top to bottom, after being "sponsored" by deep pockets. The new owners will be able to choose the body colour from five shades - Light Green, Bronze Green, RAF Blue, Dove Grey and Poppy Red - and leave the cars to their own taste.
They will take advantage of the German Techno-Classica event to exhibit a finished unit that attests to the degree of care that will be taken in the restoration, and customers will be recruited for this first batch. In this way, the 12 operators - with an average of more than 14 years of experience - will continue to have work to do and will be doing a great service for the preservation of the automotive heritage.
After a few years, the legal obligation to provide parts comes to an end, but Jaguar Land Rover has a more customer-friendly approach to a classic. The cars will be left as they would have left the factory almost 70 years ago, but with today's means. These restored units can fetch an enormous value.
Just look at what is happening in the United States. The Defender was only sold as such between 1993 and 1998, until the NHTSA made it compulsory for new cars to have airbags. The reform was not implemented for economic reasons. The limited amount of cars makes them have a huge price (up to 100,000 dollars!), even if they fall apart, or they try to be imported illegally with the consequences that this can entail (and they are very unpleasant, as this video shows).
These cars, by today's standards, are the worst: unsafe at highway speeds, zero comfort, without any technology, slow, slow, clumsy... but in the countryside they go where they please, and that has its value and importance. It's as far from being a car as you can get, unlike an SUV, there's no half measures here. And on top of that, we're talking about classics.
Try to find a car in perfect condition from 1948. The word "savage" might not be enough to describe the size of the figure.
