George, Western Cape – Some dedicated Land Rover fans would sleep in their Defenders if they could, and now this one can.
Terry Ryan of Artisan Joinery in George was asked by a Land Rover enthusiast to build a Defender bed for his young son’s car-themed bedroom, and the one he chose to replicate was the customised Defender 90 that starred in the 2015 James Bond film Spectre.
It’s made out of 16mm medium density fibreboard; Ryan had to invent a new process to form the complicated curves of the bonnet, which carries genuine Defender badging.
It has an extra-length, queen-size mattress for class-leading legroom, and the roof-rack can also be converted into a three-quarter size bed for sleepovers or bedroom camping, thanks to side-mounted steel ladders.
It has genuine (working) Defender headlights, indicators and roof rack-mounted LED spots, and weighs about 600kg, complete with mud-terrain tyres.
The bed took about six weeks to make; Ryan says he’s happy to make more like it – he’s already had inquiries from as far afield as the UK and Dubai. Ask him about the price.