525-HP Land Rover Defender Is Powered By Corvette Engine

Land Rover has a brand new generation Defender in the works and we are probably less than a year away from the moment when we will see the final product. However, enthusiasts around the world are still obsessed with the original off-roader but some of them fancy more power under the hood. This unleashes a whole new niche in the tuning scene and projects like Himalaya's Spectre 110 Crew Cab you see in the attached gallery below are not a rare sight nowadays.

Sure, it's not the first V8-powered Defender out there and it's not even the first Corvette-powered one. But the attention to detail here is taken to a new level, especially inside the cabin – there's a completely new dashboard with new instrument cluster and Alpine touchscreen with Apple CarPlay connectivity, plus a set of Recaro leather seats. Nearly everything in the interior is wrapped in fine black leather and the back seats have a two-tone color combination.

But, of course, the most important upgrade over the humble original Defender is found under the hood. That's where the stock four-cylinder motor has been replaced by a 6.3-liter V8 LS3 Corvette engine with 525 horsepower (391 kilowatts) and 495 pound-feet (671 Newton-meters) of torque. It's mated to a six-speed automatic transmission sending power to all four wheels. Himalaya promises drivers "will have no doubt of the performance and drivability once behind the wheel."

The exterior is no ordinary, too. The rugged boxy SUV rides on 37-inch Toyo Open Country tires and 18-inch Sawtooth Alloy wheels in gloss black, contrasting with the body's matte gunmetal gray finish. A 4-inch lift with Fox Performance Shocks and Extreme Currie Hi-Flex suspension give the truck a raised stance that "looks down on everything on the road in front of it."