TUNNING

Defender Carlex mimics DeLorean

You probably remember it: the DeLorean DMC-12, the only car that John DeLorean has ever been able to get into production. His vision was a clean-lined coupé with gull-wing doors. Without emphasis on performance, because he was not really smooth. In any case, the DeLorean was not an icon because of what the car did well. He achieved his iconic status by transforming into a time machine for the masterful film Back to the Future. Because it was a good and progressive design for the 80s, not least because of a stainless steel body, which gave the car a kind of ‘naked steel’ look.



Do it all over again
Yet the DeLorean immediately shot in the head of the undersigned when pictures surfaced of the Land Rover Defender by Carlex Design. Because even though it is probably not a completely rebuilt stainless steel body, it looks like it. A kind of brushed look in a non-shiny paint makes this Defender look like a kind of DeLorean SUV. However?



Yachting Edition
What it is: the Land Rover Defender Yachting Edition by Carlex. Carlex has used this label more often for, for example, the Mercedes X-Class and the Mercedes G-Class. So a maritime theme. The brushed steel look is accompanied by a few changes in the exterior. New rims, although that is not the strongest point. A number of parts in black do help. The front with the black grille and bonnet, not to mention the ‘flying square’ on the side. That combined with a compass on the spare wheel. Which, incidentally, does not work.





Typical SUV?
However, Carlex does something with the Defender that is diametrically opposed to the ideal. To give the Defender back those rough edges, it is certainly not a Range Rover on the inside. After all, you already have four Range Rovers within JLR for that. No, the Defender is functional, lots of rubber and fabric because you don’t want to damage your leather with work gloves and boxes with steel toes. Carlex slightly ignores this ideal. A lot of leather and brown (or white) colored fabrics. Yet for a tuner that reupholsters interiors, there are still some rough edges, such as a lot of use of the same stainless steel look as the outside. You also do not have to expect sheep wool floor mats, instead you get floors with click laminate. Or just wood. Little hard to see.



Diego Meadows, from Netherlands