One tiny difference has made the last couple of the 240 Land Rover Defenders man bought even more valuable than the rest
Published on Jan 01, 2026 at 4:15 PM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Dec 23, 2025 at 5:02 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
Remember the man who bought 240 Land Rover Defenders to modify them and make a profit? Well, it turns out that a handful of the cars share a small detail that makes them more valuable than the rest.
When British businessman Charles Fawcett heard that Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) was permanently closing down production of the Land Rover Defender, he had an idea.
Fawcett decided to directly reach out to the carmaker and see if he could buy 240 units for his company, Twisted Automotive.
He planned to modify each and every Land Rover Defender and then sell them for a profit.
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One small detail on some of the Land Rover Defenders makes them rarer
The story of Twisted Automotive has plenty of erm… twists and turns.
It started with an idea and a huge gamble for Fawcett, who recently appeared on the Resto Revival – Car Stories YouTube channel.
He managed to broker a deal to acquire 240 Defenders for around $30,600 each, around $7.3 million total.
However, after Jaguar Land Rover had delivered half of the Defenders, the company stopped sending out new units.
The carmaker then reached out to Fawcett and told him they would need more clarification on what he and Twisted Automotive defined as ‘modified’.
The issue was swiftly resolved, and deliveries of the Land Rover Defenders started up again, although Fawcett only ended up receiving 239, rather than the 240, he had originally signed up for.
Although not plain sailing, the gamble has paid off for Fawcett, with some models selling for as much as $200,000 or even $300,000 each.
Today, Twisted has still got some of the original cars left – all waiting to be modified before they’re sold.
And it’s this bunch that is the most valuable of the lot, thanks to one small detail, and it’s all down to the delay caused by JLR stopping deliveries.
“These were all registered post-production ending,” he explained on Resto Revival – Car Stories.
“So, production ended January 19th, and these were all registered between the end of January and June.”
This makes the cars a little more rare than the rest, and potentially more valuable.
The modified Defenders take a long time to make
Fawcett told Resto Revival – Car Stories that he has 20 or so of the original Land Rover Defenders left.
And overhauling them to create a custom Twisted model is no mean feat.
Fawcett explained that compared to the early days of modifying the vehicles, it now took a lot longer.
“When we build a Twisted now, every car is taken apart to the ground, and there’s not a lot of Land Rover left,” he said.
As such, he estimated it took about six to eight months to get one of the Land Rover Defenders ready for its new owner.
You can listen to the full, fascinating story on the Resto Revival – Car Stories YouTube channel here.
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Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Claire covers a wide variety of topics, with a special focus on cars, technology, planes, cryptocurrency, and luxury.
