An Electric Land Rover For The Cowshed And A Cowshed

An electric Land Rover for the cowshed and a Cowshed.

- Will Hersey.

When Land Rover announced in 2015 that it was replacing the venerable Defender with an ultra-modern, gadget-laden SUV more likely to be seen on its way to a Cowshed spa than outside an actual bona-fide cowshed, the outpouring of love for the soon-to-be condemned icon was bordering on the mawkish. Many observers, some still sobbing gently into the sleeves of their Barbour White Labels, felt the premium firm had missed a trick.

As it turned out, Land Rover had correctly seen very sizable dollar signs in the all-new model, launched in 2019, that has since sold in container loads. But the split nicely encapsulates the current dichotomy in car design; while the motor industry heads into a clinical and technical future, are the traditional cars that make many of us happy mostly from the past?

“If you look at modern car design, the reality is that they all look the same. They have to look the same, because of crash structures and impact resistance and all the other things,” says Justin Lunny, founder of Everrati UK, one of a new wave of firms turning old classics into fully functioning electric vehicles (EVs). “But we have an opportunity with these beautiful cars that people still love.”

The models that Everrati currently offers are a 964 Porsche 911, Ford GT40 and, naturally enough, a vintage Land Rover Series IIA, considered by some to be the holy grail in this global electrified vintage market, which Lunny says is “exploding”.

“We’re exactly in that sweet spot for millennials and Gen Z, who love the idea of a classic car but would never dream of buying one with a combustion engine.”