Defender SVX ‘SPECTRE’ is a Villainous Of-Roader

Straight of the movie, this Land Rover Defender SVX ‘SPECTRE’ is so bad-ass it tried to take on James Bond.

If you run the most diabolical criminal organization in the world, then you had better give the people working for you the right tools for the job. Particularly if there’s going to be a car chase with James Bond on the highest of mountain roads in the Austrian Alps. More to the point, if you’re demanding stunt drivers to maneuver at high speed on icy roads with severe drops for the cameras, then they really need the right tools for the job.

The 110 Defenders used for filming the 2015 James Bond movie Spectre are a bit special, and one of them has just been sold during the Bonhams car sale at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK. 10 were actually built for the movie’s production by the legendary Land Rover racing specialists Bowler Motorsports. To keep the stunt drivers on the road, the suspension is made up of racing hardware including Bilstein rally dampers. To keep the stunt drivers safe and in place, there’s a cross external and internal roll-cage and Recaro seats fitted with 4-point harnesses. The SVX also has a 65 horsepower bump to the engine taking it 185, and it now has 368 lb.ft of torque.

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The Land Rovers have to look the part as well. SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) wouldn’t be running around in standard Keswick Green 110 Defender crew-cabs and issuing henchmen with tweed waistcoats. The SPECTRE Land Rovers are painted in Santorini Black and the one shown is said to still have marks on the hood left by the stuntmen. The monstrous lumps of rubber are 37″ diameter all-terrain tires and housed in big, boxy, arch extensions. Altogether, it makes for a brutal look we wouldn’t like following us in the rear-view mirror. Even if was just sweet little old Mrs. Wallace from next door coming home from the flower store.

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Ian Wright

Ian Wright has been a professional writer for two years and is a regular contributor to Corvette Forum, Jaguar Forum, and 6SpeedOnline, among other auto sites.

His obsession with cars started young and has left him stranded miles off-road in Land Rovers, being lost far from home in hot hatches, going sideways in rallycross cars, being propelled forward in supercars and, more sensibly, standing in fields staring at classic cars. His first job was as a mechanic and then trained as a driving instructor before going into media production.

The automotive itch never left though, and he realized writing about cars is his true calling. However, that doesn’t stop him from also hosting the Both Hand Drive podcast.

Ian can be reached at bothhanddrive@gmail.com