Radical Land Rover Defender 90 Convertible Debuts At Goodwood

DamianSci/Tech2025-07-121160

Radical Land Rover Defender 90 Convertible Debuts At Goodwood originally appeared on Autoblog.

Two aftermarket firms teamed up to make it happen

The current Land Rover Defender 90 is just as capable off-road as the classic models it replaced, but unlike those Defenders of yore, it's not available as a convertible. British firm Urban Automotive and Dutch coachbuilder Heritage Customs—recently merged under parent company AM Group—have an aftermarket alternative.

Debuting at the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Urban Widetrack Heritage Series Soft-Top combines Heritage Customs' Valiance soft-top conversion for the Defender with one of Urban Automotive's carbon-fiber body kits. It's the first convertible modified by Urban Automotive, which specializes in high-end models from brands like Land Rover and Rolls-Royce.

Defenders That Land Rover Won't Build

Urban Automotive

Heritage Customs offers forged wheels, accessories, and custom interiors, but its most ambitious projects are the Defender 90-based Valiance convertible and the Defender 130-based Valiance pickup. For the convertible, the donor car's chassis is reinforced with a custom roll cage to account for the loss of rigidity from removing some bodywork.

Valiance convertibles were already available in limited numbers, but this one got additional customization from Urban. It wears the company's Widetrack fender flares, XRS (Extreme Road Series) vented hood, and some smaller items, including carbon-fiber mirror caps, lower front canards, and additional square daytime running lights. It rolls on black 23-inch wheels that match the paint and most of the exterior trim.

In contrast to the darkened exterior, the interior features riotous Hermes Orange leather upholstery, with Recaro front seats. The orange leather even covers the roll cage and a custom dashboard overlay.

Urban Automotive Expands

Urban Automotive

View the 4 images of this gallery on the original article

Founded in 2014, Urban Automotive specializes in modifying luxury vehicles in what the company calls an "OEM+" manner, trying to match the quality of factory builds. That approach is apparently resonating with customers looking to modify their cars, as Urban is rapidly expanding to meet what the company says is increasing demand.

In addition to the merger with Heritage Customers, Urban recently acquired a 42,000-square-foot facility in the United Kingdom and a warehouse and distribution facility in the United States. It's also continuing to launch new builds and products. It displayed a newly-modified Rolls-Royce Cullinan Series II and Range Rover Sport alongside the Defender convertible at Goodwood.