A DETERMINED father has taken a rusty 1985 Land Rover and converted it into a modernised Hot Wheels Land Rover Defender. Family man, Brian Reginald, spent two years producing the incredible vehicle with the help of his father and three sons. Brian, 42, originally bought the Land Rover Defender County for around $1,000 AUD / $654,000 USD. Destined for the scrap heap, he saw an opportunity to convert the car into a modern Defender that replicated something from the hit toy car brand, Hot Wheels. Brian and his family, who reside in Brisbane, Australia, have been fans of the Hot Wheels franchise for over 15 years and they couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome.
Video Credits: Videographer / director: Joshua Maguire Producer: Danny Baggott, James Thorne Editor: Ian Phillips
00:03Isn't that where every car obsession starts as a kid?
00:06That's it.
00:13We've probably been collecting Hot Wheels cars for maybe 15 years now.
00:18One of the main inspirations for the Land Rover build was the four-wheel drives down here.
00:26This is our creation of a Hot Wheels Land Rover Defender.
00:29It's actually a 1985 Land Rover Defender County.
00:35We bought it for $1,000, pretty much destined for the scrap heap.
00:39It was pretty bad shape.
00:41Total build time, it took about two years from start to finish.
00:44With the engine, we decided to go a V8 motor.
00:49So my wife wasn't too happy about that because it is pretty loud.
00:53The Defender weighs about 2,300 kilograms.
01:01My sons were a big help in the build, especially my oldest, Darian.
01:04He does a lot of the wooden fabrication in the car.
01:07It was a lot of fun and arguments and all that sort of stuff.
01:11We got there in the end.
01:12Yeah.
01:16We love Hot Wheels.
01:17Hot Wheels cars.
01:18And basically we wanted something...
01:19It's all excited.
01:20Yeah.
01:21Isn't that where every car obsession starts as a kid?
01:24That's it.
01:26My dad first told me about wanting to restore an old Land Rover Defender
01:30when he came to me one day and was like,
01:32oh, Deej, check this out.
01:34Wouldn't this be an awesome build?
01:36It was a photo of an old rusted out Land Rover Defender behind an old shed.
01:41I was pretty surprised at what he wanted to do, but at the same time,
01:44it was one of those builds that if we could pull it off,
01:47it would just set a new benchmark.
01:49I had a passion for vehicles pretty much my whole life.
01:52I remember being 12, 13 years old and getting my first car,
01:57fixing that up with my father.
01:59He has a lot of background in rebuilding cars.
02:01Without him, it wouldn't have been possible.
02:04It's a good project and I like working on cars as well.
02:07It was interesting to me.
02:09Do you remember when we had to pull apart this car for the first time?
02:12Yeah.
02:13I think the beauty about a Land Rover is you can pull it apart
02:16into heaps of pieces.
02:18We counted up about 130 different parts,
02:21panels and things that needed to be sandblasted, powder coated.
02:26The main elements of this Land Rover would be the airbag suspension,
02:30the big wheels, the motor definitely sets it apart
02:33and the paint job is very unique.
02:36And the colour, well, we just wanted something that was bright.
02:40Yeah, back and forth for about a month.
02:42Yeah.
02:43Oh, what do you think of this colour now?
02:45Yeah.
02:46And the colour that we ended up choosing for the car.
02:48You can't buy it.
02:49Yeah.
02:50You just basically, we went in and mixed it up and came up with this colour.
02:54And it's a really cool colour because at night, under fluoro lights, the car glows.
02:59It's just a beautiful finish as well.
03:09Fender is 100% road legal.
03:11Top speed of the Fender hasn't really been tested, but I can say I've had it to about 160, 180.
03:19The total cost of the vehicle was probably about $30,000, which was surprisingly good for a car that was modified as much as it is.
03:30A project like this, you don't build it for other people, you build it for ourselves and for the memories.
03:35I'll always be proud of my dad in anything that he does and I guess that's why I'm so into cars and my ideas as well and it all starts with him.
03:44I'm happy that they're showing interest in what I show interest in.
03:49I probably wouldn't consider selling the vehicle simply because three generations working on the vehicle and my dad being 76 years old,
03:59it's good to have the memories of working on the vehicle with him and my children being so young, they can have memories when they get older as well.
04:14I gave people 100% of the vehicle and my dad being so young in those examples.
04:17I love how you don't see that the vehicle and they can have many opportunities.
04:19I love how you look at the vehicle and your staff and your staff.
04:22I love how you're doing the vehicle first.
04:24I love how you want some people to work.
04:28You can see a lot of people to sleep and see what you spend now on the vehicle.
04:29I love how you can keep you getting on the vehicle.
04:32If you don't know what you're thinking, look, I can help me see them.
04:35I love how you're listening to the vehicle.
04:37I love how you're going out.
04:39By the way I love how you're listening to my parents.
