Six and the city
We drive the 6.2 Flying Huntsman 6x6 Defender
IWILL never forget the 2015 Geneva Motor Show for one specific reason. My former publisher Geoff Love did a live video on the LRM Facebook page of the unveiling of wheels wizard Afzal Kahn’s prototype Flying Huntsman 6x6 Defender double cab pick-up. It went viral with over half a million views. This was probably because it was like no 6x6 Defender the world had ever seen. So while the Australian military previously used their Defender 110 Perentie 6x6 for battlefield manoeuvres, Afzal’s Flying Huntsman 6x6 is opulence personified and the only place it will ever see any action is in the posh parts of urban jungles. Fast forward four years and I am in Chelsea, London, with my mate Nekkies Smit (the designated driver for the day), standing outside Afzal’s shiny Chelsea Truck Company showroom. We are here to take one of his production Flying Huntsman 6x6 Defender double cab pickups for a drive through central London. It’s a five seater but they also do a station wagon nine or 12-seater option. We’re met by the man himself and I feel a little under-dressed in my cargo shorts and sneakers. According to the sales brochure the
6x6 that we will be driving is currently for sale at a whopping £279,999, you can purchase ten new Defender 90s for that amount of money, when they were still making them, of course. I ask Afzal about the current state of the Defender market. “The Defender market has definitely gone a little quiet. People know there is a new Defender coming soon, plus Brexit is not doing us any favours. Still we managed to sell around 50 Defenders in 2018 and so far we have sold seven of the 6x6s to buyers in China, Mexico, Germany and the Middle East.”
So how did they create this 6x6? It started out life as a newish Defender 110 crew cab with a Puma engine. The body was then extended by 880 mm and an extra rear axle fitted, while the distance between the back two axles is 880 mm. Then they have used the rear end of a Defender 90, so unlike some of the other six wheeler Defenders we have recently seen this is a genuine 6x6 with a driven third axle. The Puma engine has been replaced with a powerful 430 hp GM LS3 V8.
Afzal throws us the keys and tells us to take care. Nekkies gets a naughty smile on his face. He owns several Land Rovers including a 6x6 3.5-litre V8 Fire Truck that was built by Land Rover in South Africa.
We head north away from the Thames River in the
direction of Hyde Park. Our first stop is a petrol station as the fuel light has come on. The Puma engine has been replaced with the powerful 6.2-litre GM LS3 V8 engine that has been mated to a six-speed auto box. No low range and diff-lock here mate. Thanks to the customised stainless steel exhaust it has a raspy burble during quick acceleration. It certainly turns heads and people everywhere are using their mobile phones to try and get a snap of the Flying Huntsman 6x6.
I’m not happy with the photo I get of the 6x6 in front of the Natural History Museum and so I ask Nekkies to do another drive by. He obliges but not before doing an impressive u-turn across several lanes. To get to Buckingham Palace we go along the busy Brompton Road, passing Harrods in the process. There are lots of shiny sports cars parked up, with our two inch lift it almost feels as if we can drive over them.
As Constitution Hill Road is closed we have to make our way along Grosvenor Place to reach the palace. While this is a five-seater I would not put three people in the back row as it has the same rear legroom as the first generation Evoque. I jump out as we near the palace and the traffic slows. I need to get the shot. Thankfully I have loads of time as the 6x6 is crawling along and I am able to nail it. I know the Queen is a massive fan of the Defender and wonder what she would make of the Flying Huntsman 6x6? Sadly she is not in.
We’re all on a high thanks to our palace encounter as we crawl along in traffic on Birdcage Walk, Nekkies turns into the Horse Guards Road and stops at the Horse Guards Parade. Tourists come over to take a snap of our unusual looking Land Rover while we stretch our legs. A copper tells us to move on. We hadn’t spotted the no stopping sign.
From here it is a short drive to Trafalgar Square, this time we don’t stop as there is too much traffic. I ask Nekkies if he is enjoying the city driving experience? “This is one of the better 6x6s that I have driven. I own two 147s and they are much longer than this with pretty big turning circles, there’s no problems with the size of this 6x6 in tight traffic. The gearing feels right and the drive is pretty smooth. It would be nice to see how the V8 goes on the open road.”
It does not take us long to get to Big Ben, which is covered in scaffolding and so we cross the Westminster Bridge. Our
last of the six sites is Tower Bridge but we get caught up in a climate change protest on the way, a little inappropriate given we are in a V8. We decide to skip Tower Bridge and instead make our way back to Chelsea.
It’s been an interesting hour or two of trying to weave the powerful V8 through Sunday traffic. I doubt that any other Land Rover raised as much attention in London today. It’s definitely a vehicle for someone with a thick wallet who wants to be noticed.
As we hand back the keys I ask Afzal what was the biggest challenge in building his Flying Huntsman 6x6. “Getting the proportions right was not easy. It took a long time for us to get it just right. There was lots of chopping and changing, but I’m thrilled with the result.”
Jacques and I jump into our Defender 90 with its straightsix. It’s certainly a little easier to weave our way through traffic in this. One thing is for certain in London, it does not matter if you drive a battered old Series I or a £279,000 Flying Huntsman 6x6, they can both only go as fast as the traffic will allow.