Overfinch is the place where off-road meets bespoke. This Leeds-based company is renowned for its high-end Range Rover conversions, built to demanding order to turn already desirable off-roaders into unique luxury rides. It's safe to say they know their way around all eras of Range Rover and — increasingly — every variety of the original classic Land Rover too. So which will it be, high end classic Range Rover with all the extra trimmings (and then some) or nut-and-bolt better-than-perfect original Land Rover?
Range Rover Heritage Field Edition | £285,000 | Year: 1993 | Engine: 6.2 litre V8, 430 bhp
If you're after the perfect four-door classic Range Rover with more than a little extra get-up-and-go, look no further. Overfinch have spared nothing - and we mean nothing - to create what may be the ultimate classic Range Rover conversion, and one which will drop just about everything at the traffic lights to boot.
Open the door to a fully refitted interior featuring not only diamond quilt detailing to the luxurious tan leather Recaro seating, but — in keeping with the "Field" part of this Rangie's name — that essential walnut-with-olive-ash drinks and gun cabinet. The Range Rover was naturally subject to a full nut and bolt rebuild before Overfinch's craftspeople had their way with hand-building the bits that you see to the highest possible standards. That tan leather dashboard, for instance, is bespoke.
Under the bonnet - finished like the rest of the vehicle in Overfinch's own Emerald Green metallic paint - the Range Rover's power unit is an impressive sight. It's a 6.2 litre GM-derived V8 providing what Overfinch say is "abundant" power and performance. Since that amounts to a hefty 430 bhp, we're inclined to agree with them. Your feet, meanwhile, will be cosseted by Overfinch's lambswool rug carpets while passers-by admire - among others - the bespoke Emerald Green alloys. Lush doesn't quite begin to describe it.
Land Rover 109 Series III | £75,000 | Year: 1980 | Engine: 2.25 litre inline four cylinder, 69 bhp
The original Land Rover, the 4x4 that eventually became known as the Defender, is one of the true greats of British car design. The Landie dates back to 1948 when Rover designer Maurice Wilks realised, after using a war-surplus Willys Jeep on his farm, that there might just be a market for a British upgrade on this American utility classic. You might say that the Land Rover you see here is a supreme tribute to Maurice Wilks's brainwave.
The work that Overfinch have put in to transform this Land Rover to better-than-original is breathtaking. The company says that it's taken a staggering 1,150 hours of work to take this Series III to what is surely well beyond Concours condition. To put it another way: you perhaps won't be using this Land Rover on your farm. Not a single nut or bolt has been left untouched by Overfinch's perfectionist engineers.
Finish is in the correct Marine Blue with Limestone to the roof and rear cover. Seating is entirely new black vinyl, again as per the original specification but, since the work is by hand and bespoke, somewhat better. The workhorse four cylinder petrol engine has been subject to the kind of care and attention more usually reserved for powerplants of supercars. But then — in its own unique way — this Land Rover is a supercar. A stellar museum piece.
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