Paul Smith Defender

History

Sir Paul Smith, a lifelong Defender fan and owner, collaborated with Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations design team and Chief Design Officer Gerry McGovern on a bespoke Defender 90, revealed on 20 March 2015 at Smith's shop at No. 9 Albemarle Street, Mayfair. Smith supplied SVO with a set of Pantone references and each of the 27 exterior colours was specially mixed for the vehicle; no factory colours are recorded for this record because the whole point of the commission was a one-off palette, inspired by the British countryside and by the colours of Defenders in British Armed Forces service. Traditionally bright elements - wing mirrors, door handles, wheels - were given a satin finish, with hinges and grille picked out in fluorescent yellow.

The interior mixed black leather with blue contrast stitching and fabric that Smith designs for the American upholstery house Maharam. Characteristic hidden details include a hand-painted bee on the roof, an image of keys printed inside the glove compartment, and a Paul Smith-branded fascia plaque in place of the usual clock. The vehicle carries the UK registration OY15 UXH and was one of the send-off celebrations of the original Defender's final year of production; its subsequent whereabouts are not publicly documented.

Imagery

Registry record

Manufacturer

Land Rover (Jaguar Land Rover)

Manufactured

2015–2015

Modifier / coachbuilder

Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations, with Sir Paul Smith ↗

Production run

1 (one-off)

Country of origin

United Kingdom

Status

one-off; current whereabouts not publicly documented

Catalogue data

Record kind

Named model

Model line

Defender

Wheels

4

Base catalogue fields are exported from the Difflocked game. In-game physics values are arcade tuning, not certified historical measurements, and are deliberately not shown as specifications here.

Sources & citations

Researched sources

• Land Rover Creates Tailor-Made Defender For Paul Smith ↗ — Jaguar Land Rover press release (accessed 2026-09-10)
• Bespoke Paul Smith Land Rover Defender decorated in 27 vibrant colors ↗ — designboom (accessed 2026-09-10)
• Paul Smith | Land Rover (collaboration page) ↗ — Paul Smith (accessed 2026-09-10)