Skip to main content

Kahn Design thinks small with customized Land Rover Defender 90 Pick Up

Known around the world for its custom-built Land Rovers, Kahn Design is showcasing its first-ever modified Defender Pick Up.

Starting with a standard short-wheelbase 2011 Defender 90 Pick Up, Kahn has added a full body kit that includes a redesigned radiator grille with yellow and black inserts as well as fender flares on all four corners. Yellow 16-inch alloy wheels add a contrasting touch to the overall look, while a leather tonneau cover hides the content of the bed from prying eyes.

The interior has been upgraded with a pair of racing-inspired bucket seats upholstered with black quilted leather, a Kahn-specific instrument cluster with red gauges and a sprinkling of aluminum trim. Overall, Kahn’s Defender is a lot more posh than the utility vehicle it is based on.

The Defender’s upscale aspirations fade when the hood is opened. Kahn has not made any modifications in the engine bay, meaning the custom-built off-roader is powered by an older 2.4-liter diesel-burning four-cylinder mill that sends 122 horsepower to all four wheels via a six-speed manual transmission. The engine is borrowed from the Ford Transit van, a reminder of the days when Land Rover was bundled together with Jaguar, Volvo and Aston Martin under the Premier Automotive Group umbrella.

Kahn has not revealed how much its custom-built Defender Pick-Up retails for. If it’s any indication, the used model depicted in the promotional shots is currently on sale in the United Kingdom for £28,930, a sum that converts to over $43,000.

Ronan Glon
Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…
Plug-in hybrids are becoming more popular. Why? And will it continue?
Kia Niro EV Charging Port

There's a lot of talk about the idea that the growth in electric car sales has kind of slowed a little. It's not all that surprising -- EVs are still expensive, early adopters all have one by now, and they're still new enough to where there aren't too many ultra-affordable used EVs available. But plenty of people still want a greener vehicle, and that has given rise to an explosion in hybrid vehicle sales.

That's especially true of plug-in hybrid vehicles, which can be charged like an EV and driven in all-electric mode for short distances, and have a gas engine as a backup for longer distances or to be used in combination with electric mode for more efficient driving.

Read more
EV drivers are not going back to gas cars, global survey says
ev drivers are not going back to gas cars global survey says screenshot

Nearly all current owners of electric vehicles (EVs) are either satisfied or very satisfied with the experience, and 92% of them plan to buy another EV, according to a survey by the Global EV Drivers Alliance.

The survey of 23,000 EV drivers worldwide found that only 1% would return to a petrol or diesel car, while 4% would opt for a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) if they had to replace their car.

Read more
Trump team in sync with Tesla on ending crash-reporting requirements, report says
Beta of Tesla's FSD in a car.

The transition team of President-elect Donald Trump is planning to end existing car-crash reporting requirements to safety regulators, according to a Reuters report.

The report cites a document obtained by Reuters that lays out the transition team’s 100-day strategy for automotive policy. In the document, the team says the crash-reporting requirement leads to “excessive” data collection, Reuters says.

Read more