Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire - If there was one vehicle that we would have thought was immune from the bling culture, it's that most prosaic of agricultural implements, the Land Rover Defender.
But we'd have been wrong - and, far from being part of the California car culture, the Defender specialist responsible for the sexed-up boxcar you see here is based in Milton Keynes, right in the heart of England's mink and manure belt.
Nevertheless, when it came to giving the Land Rover Defender Ultimate RS (that's what it's called) a beef injection, Urban Trucks opted for Detroit muscle, dropping in a 6.2-litre LS3 V8 crate engine from GM, driving all four wheels through a six-speed automatic gearbox with what GM refers to as an electronic gear selector module.
The LS3, Urban Trucks tells us, is available in various states of tune, delivering from 316kW to a seriously intimidating 368kW and 540Nm.
BUT NOW IT GETS REALLY NAFF
Urban trucks has also lowered the suspension by more than 50mm with spots springs and Bilstein dampers, beefed up the anti-roll bars and painted the brake callipers bright red, inside custom 18” rims shod with Yokohama rubber.
The RS is finished in gloss black (including the badging!) with a custom grille, LED lighting, carbon-fibre bonnet vents, tinted glass and a satin black bash plate, and speaks with authority through big-bore stainless-steel drainpipes.
The inside, however, takes naff to a new level, with a wholly inappropriate Momo steering wheel and heatable Recaro sports seats, all trimmed in soft, quilted nappa leather (as are the dashboard and steering column), and an Alpine sound system complete with heavy-duty sub-woofer and built-in satnav.
Prices start at £92 995 (R1.67 million) for the short-wheelbase version, rising to £97 995 (R1.76 million) and beyond for an RS based on the Defender 110 station wagon.