Real-life Tonka? It’s the Kahn Defender

Land Rover Defenders have a hugely fanatical following. Mess with their timeless, utilitarian aesthetic, then, and you risk the wrath of some of the most devoted fans in the car world.

That's never stopped UK tuning firm Kahn, though, whose Land Rover-biased tinkering has produced all manner of results over the years, more recently the decidedly odd Flying Huntsman six-wheeler.

Less provocative (relatively speaking, of course) is this, its latest take on the Defender pick-up.

It's actually a used example of the loadbay-equipped Landie, four years old and with over 28,000 miles having passed beneath its knobbly tyres.

How well it wears those miles depends on how much a stickler you are for authenticity, because it's fair to say it's running a little way from standard.

Highlights? Bigger wheel arches, a meaner front grille and a generally quite Tonka toy approach to body panels. The Keswick Green colour scheme would independently be subtle, but yellow wheels and fascia inserts ensure the overall look is anything but.

While one would understandably twin ‘pick-up' with ‘workmanlike', the quilted leather bucket seats inside do not look designed for a long day of hard labour. Far more sensible is the 122bhp 2.4-litre turbodiesel engine that drives all four wheels through a good old fashioned manual gearbox.

If you want Kahn's latest creation in your life, it will set you back £28,930, though the company is quick to point out existing Defender owners can cut fast and loose with the personalisation options if they aren't quick enough to pick this one up.

A complex car, but one simple question: do you love it or hate it?