James Bond films never have a shortage of incredible vehicles on the cast list. There are the good guy cars that 007 drives, like the Aston Martin DB5, and DB10. Then there are the villainous cars the henchmen trying to kill Bond drive. And this might very well be the most badass hench-mobile I’ve seen in any of the Bond films. It’s the Land Rover Discovery SVX that recently starred in Spectre and as you can tell it’s been heavily modified to make it extra henchman-like. According to reports, this spectacular off-road beast can be yours when it crosses the auction block next month.
You might think that since it’s a “movie car,” it’s either been beat to hell or isn’t a fully functioning car, but that’s not the case here. This Defender SVX is 1 of 10 built for the filming of Spectre, and this one was used for “drive-by” shots and that means it only has 145 miles on the odometer. But because it was going to appear on film it had to have all the necessary upgrades so that moto enthusiasts like us didn’t scoff in the theaters.
It’s a Defender 110 that first received the works from the Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations department, which handled most of the cosmetic upgrades. But the production team didn’t stop there. It was then sent to Bowler to have it tuned up to race-like specs. Some of the many upgrades installed on this sinister Landy were designed to make it perform as good as it looks. Bowler being a highly respected off-road tuner was the perfect choice to handle these sort of upgrades. The suspension for example, has been revamped using Bilstein shocks and rally dampers to help keep it planted when blasting through the countryside, or for those times you find yourself in a high-speed chase. Speaking of which, if you do find yourself chasing down a “goodie two shoes” spy, you’ll know you’re safe thanks to the Recaro seats, 4-point racing harnesses as well as a full roll cage. Just in case things get really wild, there’s even a hydraulic handbrake installed, although apparently it’s been disconnected for the private sale, but that’s easy enough to reconnect.
As far as the motor, I was hoping to find a massive V8 like the Defender 130 built by East Coast Defenders I reported on a few months back. Alas, it does not. Instead, it has the standard diesel engine but it has been upgraded as well. In stock form, it was rated at 120hp and 264lb-ft, but after receiving some Bowler magic it now produces 185hp and 364lb-ft of torque. Still not enough to be winning any drag races, but it’s plenty to get you anywhere you want to go off-road.
According to RM Sotheby’s, where the Spectre Defender is presented, is in perfect condition and meets all requirements to make it street legal both in the United Kingdom as well as the United States. It even comes with documentation stating which scenes it was used for and what upgrades were used in its construction.
So if you’re either a hardcore James Bond or off-road enthusiasts, this is the vehicle for you. Since it’ll be sold at auction there no way of telling how much it’ll go for., but most experts say they expect to see at least $100,000 or more once the gavel drops.
