Lightweight aluminum body panels completely reshape this bespoke Defender. A father-son pair from Nashville commissioned the $400,000 off-roader. Major chassis and suspension upgrades transform the rugged Land Rover. The current Land Rover Defender is a properly impressive piece of work, but it never quite catches the gravity of an original. That gap is exactly why the market for upgraded and modified classic Defenders refuses to cool off. Helderburg is one of the shops working that vein, and Rocco is its latest creation. Known as Rocco, this Defender was built for a father and son in Nashville, costing a cool $400,000 or roughly the same as a low-mileage, used Ferrari SF90 Stradale. While that’s a lot of money, these cars are hand-transformed and thoroughly re-engineered. All up, it took over 3,000 hours to build Rocco. Read: They Spent Nearly $400,000 On A Classic Defender, And Didn’t Even Swap The Engine Rather than simply restoring an old Defender or doing a traditional restomod where a new engine is fitted, Helderburg does things a little differently. It isn’t interested in chasing big horsepower and torque figures and instead retains the original engine and chassis, albeit re-engineering them to meet modern demands. In this case, the Defender’s original turbo-diesel five-cylinder has been upgraded. A Body Dripping In Anger The body is also all-new. Up front, there’s a custom fascia and a black steel bumper, as well as a matching black grille and new LED lights. The Defender also sports new quarter panels and flared wheel arches. All of the new panels are made from lightweight aluminum and have been sprayed in a glistening shade of red. Helderburg has also overhauled the Defender’s suspension system and fitted a new set of wheels clad in mud-terrain tires. There’s also a custom stainless-steel exhaust. Then there’s the cabin, which has also been transformed. Found within are new seats clad in high-end leather tanned in Scotland, with black and brown surfaces. There’s also a new steering wheel, a re-trimmed dashboard, and an infotainment screen to add some modern convenience to the Defender. “We do not operate as an assembly or restoration shop,” Helderburg founder Paul Potratz notes. “We are a design house and an engineering firm. We treat every vehicle as a single, cohesive architectural work. With Rocco, we reengineered every critical system from the frame up using our own components, so it drives with absolute precision.”“Our clients come to us because they want to step into their garage on a Sunday morning, bypass their everyday sports cars, and grab the keys to something that makes them look for the road less traveled.”