Scottish Field

SIX OF THE BEST

Morag Bootland tracks down six of Scotland’s most skilled and talented artisan designers, creators and entreprene­urs

- Doug MacDowall – L andRovers

Showcasing Scotland's top artisans, creatives and entreprene­urs

The Land Rover Defender is an automotive icon and since Jaguar Land Rover discontinu­ed the fabulous 4x4 in 2016 they’ve become even more sought after. Father and son team Doug and Ben MacDowall realised that there was a market for customisin­g these much-loved cars two and a half years ago and they’re now stripping down and rebuilding them from their base in Port Edgar, near Edinburgh.

‘Defenders have become so much more than just farm vehicles and it’s easy to change the look of them,’ says Doug. ‘They are like giant bits of meccano really, they can be very understate­d or they can have red leather throughout and giant wheels. The most expensive modificati­on we’ve done at MOR so far cost around £56k.’

Like many fans of this farming workhorse, the MacDowall family has Defenders in its blood. ‘Both of Ben’s uncles and his grandfathe­r had them,’ says Doug. ‘Ben always knew that he wanted one for his first car. He spent two years rebuilding it in our front garden.’

Their most outrageous modificati­on to date involved a James Bond, Spectre-style vehicle with monster wheels, big roof rack and massive light bars. ‘There’s nobody else in Scotland doing this,’ says Doug. ‘We have to reach a certain level of modificati­on for it to be a MOR Land Rover.’ Nothing gets overlooked.

 ??  ?? The wheel deal: Doug MacDowall with a modified and high-spec Land Rover Defender near MOR’s workshop.
The wheel deal: Doug MacDowall with a modified and high-spec Land Rover Defender near MOR’s workshop.

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