The Todd Snyder x Land Rover Defender Is Designer’s First Automotive Collab

For Todd Snyder’s latest collab, the prolific menswear mogul is transitioning from wearables to vehicles. A Land Rover Defender served as the designer’s choice in automotive canvas, but not a contemporary model produced since the British 4×4’s 2020 revival. Instead, Snyder decked out a 1998 left-hand-drive model that’s been restomodded by Billings, Montana’s Balmoral Defender, which specializes in customizing classic versions of the English off-roader.

“When I was a teenager, I went to my first classic car show and have been fascinated with cars  and automotive design ever since,” Snyder said in a statement. “To partner with Balmoral Defender has  been extraordinary. My love for materiality, design, and craftsmanship is only equal to Balmoral  Defender’s commitment to best-in-class restoration.” 

The customizer started with a collector-grade donor vehicle originally registered in Madrid. With input at every step of the way from Snyder, a complete body-off restoration and re-engineering process carried out across international ateliers in England, Spain, and the United States was performed to the “Balmoral Standard”—described by the company as a “proprietary, end-to-end framework governing sourcing, mechanical restoration, craftsmanship, design execution, and global compliance.” That last bit is noteworthy, as only some original Defenders with the 300Tdi 2.5-liter four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine are available for import into the U.S. under the 25-year-rule mandated by the Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act of 1988.

Compliance is a non-issue for this Defender, which gets the newest generation of the Chevrolet small-block V8 paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission to endow the Defender with modern output and power delivery. It also gets a performance Alcon braking system, upgraded suspension, modern power steering, Optimill smoked lighting, and other unspecified “contemporary drivability enhancements.”

As for Snyder’s contribution, the hefty ride wears a slimming City Black exterior coat with a Niagara Gray finish, a multi-stage micro-metallic paint exclusive for the collaboration. The interior features a Sonnenland Dark Beige mohair soft top and LeatMeSpecial Italian leather upholstery with honeycomb quilting and Niagara Gray piping.

As the first of three Snyder x Balmoral Defender collabs slated for 2026, the vehicle is dubbed Edition 001: City Black. Only 10 will be made to order and available for purchase from $305,000.