Osprey Unveils Three Wonderful 1997 Land Rover Defender Soft Tops With GM V8

Osprey Custom Cars has unveiled the three latest 1997 Land Rover Defender Soft Top models that it has built for a few of its customers.

Two of the three Land Rover Defenders are finished in Santorini Black while one is painted in Arles Blue. All three feature black soft tops and have also been outfitted with LED headlights, taillights, marker lamps, and a heavy-duty swing-away rear tire carrier.

The three are clearly identifiable with their different front fascias. While one has a silver front grille and a silver brush bar, the other has a front fascia dominated by gloss black components, including a small bull bar. Last but not least is the Arles Blue Defender that has a matte black bull bar and grille to protect its front end.

Osprey has also thoroughly updated the interiors of all three vehicles with key upgrades including custom-stitched leather seating, a bespoke center console, with cup holders, a new infotainment system that includes support for Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto, wireless phone charging pads, USB charging ports, and a remote start system.

All three Defender models have benefited from the same mechanical upgrades. As such, all are powered by a GM-sourced, 6.3-liter naturally-aspirated LS3 V8 engine pumping out 435 hp and 445 lb-ft of torque. This engine is coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission and an LT-230 transfer case with a center differential lock.

Elsewhere, new Griffin aluminum radiators have been fitted, as have Dual PermaCool electric cooling fans, stainless steel oil cooler lines, stainless steel brake linkes, Double Cardan front and rear driveshafts, heavy-duty front and rear axles, heavy-duty drag links, heavy-duty track rods, and an adjustable Panhard rod.

Correction: We mistakenly labeled the three Defenders as 1977 models when they were in fact 1997 vehicles