4x4 AUGUST 2019 | 45
A reference to Fungus the Bogeyman? We
earnestly hope so.
Called the Omega 110, the vehicle bears
no resemblance whatsoever to the other kind
of four-wheeled Omega (an old executive
barge from Vauxhall). But what it does bear a
resemblance to is a traditional Defender, in one
Zery specifi c way.
;ell, that’s four Zery specifi c ways, actually.
Because this here 110 runs on steel wheels.
In the rest of the car market, steels mean
boggo-spec and nothing more. In the world of
proper 4x4s, they speak of authenticity, and they
do it loud and clear.
It’s a couple of decades or so now since Land
Rover suddenly started doing 90s and 110s with
bizarre new options like metallic paint and alloy
rims. You could trace the current state of the
Defender market back to that era, for better
or worse. Anyway, the point is that up to then,
a Defender was a thing that came in ready-for-
work form and nothing else. The posh version
had cloth seats and a rear wash-wipe. Steel
wheels are what you want for a life of hard
work in tough conditions, and so that’s what the
Defender had.
The Omega 110 defi nitely has more in the
way of luxury than any of those old Defenders.
Actually, it has more in the way of luxury than
pretty much any other Defender, thanks to
kit like Cavalier Brown vintage leather seats
(including a premium high-back second row),
alloy gear knobs, black suede headlining, matching
leather door cards and gear gaiters and a 15”
Evander wood-rimmed steering wheel.
It’s still built to put in a shift of work, though.
Those 16” black steels are dressed in a set of
BFGoodrich KO2 All-Terrains, and the bumper
is home to a Warn Zeon 12-S winch. There’s a
Front Runner Slimline II roof rack up top, a NASrear step with 2” square hitch receiver and a
Raptor-coated black steering guard. Suspension
is by Arkonik’s Cellular Dynamic system, and in
addition to a set of Fire and Ice Ebony side steps
the way ahead is illuminated by a variety of front-
facing LEDs.
The latter includes driving lamps on the roof
rack and DRLs in the bumper, as well as Duo-Lux
headlamps in place of the Land Rover originals. It
all goes together to create a 110 that’s beautifully
understated – but which anyone who knows
what they’re looking at will instantly recognise as
being classy as hell.
Classy, and authentic too. When Land Rover
started lobbing alloys and lairy paint at factory
Defenders in the second half of the 1990s, who
knows what they might have done instead if they
had been able to look into the future and see
this vehicle. Because the Omega 110 is resolutely
fi t for purpose© and Nust fi t, too.Diavia air-con? Check. Alpine stereo? Check. Evander wood-rimmed steering
wheel? Check. Ruskin retrim in vintage leather? Check. This is a Defender that
ticks all the luxury boxes – but without turning itself into a mere trinket