Calef LetorneyAs a member of Vermont Rovers, I want to share my most recent Vermont Land Rover experiences.
“Genny” started life as an early Td5 that served in the French Military Police, or Gendarmerie. I imagine she’s seen a fair few demonstrations of civil disobedience (as the French do that so well) and I suspect the flic service accounts for many of the dents and scrapes present on literally every body panel.
With the clear coat peeling off, the front seats so badly worn that the metal frames poked through the lower back, 270,000 km on the clock (and surely an unimaginable number of hours idling), Genny was the least-expensive, rust-free, LHD, five-door Defender 110 I’d ever seen, offered at just £8,000 in the UK. After importation and then selling off the chassis, suspension and drivetrain, I had spent just $6,000 USD. I then set about doing a complete refurbishment, minus bodywork.
I started with a Rovers North “Flat Pack” chassis, which includes a new chassis and complete remanufactured axles. I added Genuine HD springs and Koni shocks, and then ran new wiring harnesses, fuel lines, brake lines and fuel tank.
I installed a new Ford Performance 2.3L EcoBoost motor mated to a 10R80 10-speed automatic transmission. This kit was developed by our partners at Wolf Classics, in collaboration with Ford Performance. I had bought and imported Genny on my own, but took the opportunity to make her a test bed and development mule for Rovers North’s exciting new drivetrain.
I admit that I went a bit crazy chasing down the smallest issues, but it’s the kind of energy you’d expend when working on your own vehicle. I’m quite happy with the outcome. I intended Genny to be my ultimate adventure vehicle, so I was very excited to fit the new Ford Performance drivetrain (310hp, 340 lb-ft of torque). Compared to the original TD5 (122hp, 221lb-ft of torque), a well-regarded powerhouse in its day (1998-2007), the new 2.3L Ecoboost feels positively rowdy.
Genny can comfortably hold 85 mph, even going up hills and against a headwind. I don’t know the top speed as self-preservation kicks in long before it runs out of power. Rovers North Sales manager Zack Griswold fitted one in his Defender 110 with the 6-speed manual MT82 transmission and he said it best: “What hill? The Ecoboost isn’t aware of hills.” Loping along at any desired speed, only a half inch travel of the accelerator pedal, you could easily forget you’re driving a Defender (save for the constant waves and thumbs up).
Genny stands as an exercise in contradiction, her scruffy paint and dents offering a stark contrast to the shiny galvanized chassis, modern drivetrain, new 18” wheels, floating touch-screen infotainment system with its nine speakers. I left her rough and ready on the exterior and reused most of the interior bits except the dash, headliner and front seats, because I didn’t want to worry about cosmetic wear points. I know my friends are going to scratch her, put their feet on the dash, and get her muddy. But that’s just fine; Genny will serve as the adventure enabler for the whole team, not a dolled-up pavement-princess.
So far, I’ve put just over 1,100 miles on the build. While I’m still dialing in the details, as you can expect with any complete refurbishment, it’s now feeling quite well sorted. One enduring oddity is the confusion she generates. People keep asking me if it’s a Grenadier, because of the big Gendarmerie stickers. “No,” I answer, “this is the original, a Land Rover Defender that spent two decades serving in the French Military Police, the Gendarmerie.”
Ultimately, Genny’s inherent contradictions demonstrate what’s possible; with enough time and love, even the most thrashed Defender can transform into an incredibly capable, modern daily driver. Keeping Land Rover enthusiasm alive is what matters to me, and to all of us at Rovers North.
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