The original Land Rover Defender is BACK as a Bonkers Bowler with a 568bhp V8

Land Rover has given Bowler, which it now owns, permission to use the iconic original Defender shape for its new performance model costing £200k.

Bowler has been doing outrageous things to Land Rovers for quite some time, and doing it so well that last year Land Rover jumped in and gobbled up Bowler for its own ends.

We reckoned that would mean Land Rover rolling out a new Land Rover Defender Bowler, but the first visible offering is actually going to be a Bowler, and it’s a Bowler in the shape of the original Land Rover Defender. Yes, the original Land Rover Dfender is back.

But it’s only the clothes that look old Defender, because underneath will be Bowler magic, as well as the same 568bhp supercharged V8 you’ll find under the bonnet of the Range Rover Sport SVR (and more JLR models) to make this a very different Defender. And JLR’s Land Rover SV engineers are lending a helping hand too.

What you’ll also find under that old Defender body is Bowler’s ‘CSP’ high-strength steel chassis, and despite its off-road performance promise it will come with proper seating for four, have some home comforts and be road-legal.

JLR SV boss Michael van der Sande said:

We’re excited to announce the first major project since our acquisition of Bowler. The ‘CSP 575’ will combine Supercharged V8 performance and four-seat practicality with Bowler’s rally raid-proven CSP platform, broadening the appeal of the brand. This high-performance road-going model will sit alongside Bowler’s evolving range of rally raid models, which continue to enjoy success in the world’s toughest motorsport events.

The new/old Land Rover Defender from Bowler – codenamed ‘CSP 575’ – will be built in very limited numbers by Bowler, with prices from around £200,000.