Sir Paul Smith is best known for designing fashionable menswear, having a reputation that spans nearly 40 years, but the Brit has just tried his hand at designing his own Land Rover Defender.->ke1858 Thanks to Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations branch, Smith has created his own one-off exterior color scheme and interior appointments in celebration of the Defender’s last year in production.

As it turns out, Smith is a Land Rover->ke46 fan, having owned several throughout the years. His current Land Rover is also a defender and is parked at his Italian residence. “ is in the middle of the countryside, so it’s the perfect vehicle to cope with the rugged terrain,” he says.

Smith is very right about the Defender’s abilities. Under that fancy paint job lies a hard-core off-roader->ke4846 with twin solid axles, all-terrain tires, a part-time 4WD system, and enough ground clearance to keep the body free of damage. While this Defender’s capabilities haven’t changed, there are plenty of other aspects that are completely new.

Continue reading to learn more about the 2015 Land Rover Defender Paul Smith Edition.

Exterior

The leading headline of the Paul Smith Defender is its paintjob. Smith says he took inspiration from the British countryside as well as the colors historically seen on Defenders used by the military. Since there were a plethora of colors to choose from, Smith apparently chose them all. There are 27 different colors on the outside alone.

Special touches include a hand-painted bee on the roof and the wheels coated in satin black. And being a one-off vehicle, Smith included his signature under the rear Land Rover badge.

Interior

As expected, the interior is also heavily revised. The normally utilitarian cabin has been dressed up with leather and hand-stitching for a far more luxurious feel. The seats are covered in leather with fabric inserts. Those inserts show off the same fabric material Smith designed for Maharam, an American upholstery company. Despite the fabric design being from anther project, it matches the Defender’s exterior pretty well.

The dashboard is treated to leather coverings with French stitching for a far more luxurious feel. Even the standard clock has been swapped out for a Paul Smith version. Yes, Smith has also designed clock faces.

Another special touch includes the hand-painted keychain and coins inside the center console.

Drivetrain

Nothing has hanged with the Defender’s greasy bits. Smith is a designer, not a gear head, after all. That means the Land Rover makes do with its 2.2-liter diesel four-cylinder that makes 120 horsepower and 266 pound-feet of torque. It’s mated to a six-speed manual transmission and a part-time, two-speed transfer case.

Solid axles front and rear deliver power to all four wheels when the transfer case has engaged 4WD. Low range is also available for more extreme situations like steep hill climbs, deep mud, and rock crawling.

Prices

Land Rover hasn’t listed any prices or costs for building this one-off piece of rolling artwork. However, count on it being rather expensive. Count on spending roughly £30,000, or $44,000 on just the Defender. Then tack on the cost of personalizing each exterior body panel and interior adornment. Land Rover does make it easy to do so through its SVO program, but spending money is an unspoken given. I’d suspect Smith’s Defender would cost around $80,000 to build, or roughly double the standard Defender price.

Conclusion

The Paul Smith Defender is just one more example of Land Rover’s allegiance to paying homage to the Defender as it completes its last year of production. While this isn’t really a special edition or won’t turn into a limited production run, this personalized Defender represents how iconic the SUV is to the British. Why else would a clothing designer spend his time working on such a utilitarian vehicle?

Love or hate the design, you’ve got to admit it is different. Tell us what you think in the comments below.