Land Rover Doesn't Build A Defender Truck, So Another Company Stepped In

The two customization shops, who have some experience building open-air Defenders, have released another version of a Land Rover pickup, both based on the extended-length Defender 130 V8 and featuring extensive modifications to the cabin, cosmetics, and obviously, the cargo area.

Some Bold Alterations And Trims
The most apparent change to the standard Defender 130 is the chop job that takes place aft of the second row of seats. The Heritage Customs/Urban Automotive team jettisoned the square roof aft of the second row of seats and fitted a fixed bulkhead in place, creating some open-air cargo space. As on the Defender SUV, the tailgate swings open to the right, and the rear-mounted spare tire has been removed and replaced with a couple rather awkward-looking trim panels.

Other exterior modifications include an appealing matte bronze finish on the Heritage Customs truck's fender vents, hood plates, tow hooks, and grille, as well as the contrast-painted roof. The pearl white exterior also sets off against gloss black bumpers, rocker panels, and 22-inch wheels, giving it a tri-tone color scheme that's very attractive.

Meanwhile, the Urban Automotive Defender pickup – previewed in exterior renderings before its debut at the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed – gets a sinister, all-black appearance, with glossy bodywork and a crackle finish for the roof and fender extensions. There's also a sinister-looking light bar up top, and the standard Defender's V8 gets some added cooling via a quartet of bold hood vents.

One Long SUV With One Very Short Bed
But if you've got your sights set on a large, functional, hose-it-out truck bed in your LR, you might have to keep waiting. That's because the Defender in question has a rather pitiful cargo box, which looks like it might be less than 3 feet long. A midgate, such as the one found in the Chevrolet Silverado EV and bygone GMC Envoy XUV, could make the space more useful by extending it into the cabin, but alas, everything looks pretty closed off.

That makes the pickup conversion arguably less user-friendly than the SUV, whose seats fold flat to enable loading long items like lumber, skis and snowboards, and maybe even sheets of plywood if you're willing to stack above the wheel arches. That said, if you get mud and sand in the cargo area of your stock Defender 130, it'll be a lot harder to clean it out with the garden hose, so at least the truck has that going for it.

A Defender Cabin With Range RoverAppointments
You certainly wouldn't want to soil the interior of this particular Land Rover with your messy cargo. The Heritage Customs Defender 130 has a gorgeous saddle tan cabin, with custom quilted leather and suede accents on the front and rear seats, as well as a black suede steering wheel rim. Whether that fuzzy stuff is microfiber or cowhide is unclear, but regardless, it looks pretty cozy. The material also shows up on the dash top, windowsills, and center console grab handles, ensuring just about everything you touch in this Defender is cosseting and appealing. 

To be completely honest, we think some of those exterior and interior cosmetic alterations would work just as well – if not better – on a traditional Land Rover Defender SUV. Although the pickup conversion is interesting from a novelty standpoint, it doesn't seem useful enough to be worth the effort and expense. Speaking of, pricing for the open-carry Defender 130 is unclear, but we have to assume it'd be rather dear given the body- and leatherwork on offer. An earlier Land Rover truck built by Heritage Customs had an asking price of more than $150,000, and we presume this one might be even more expensive.