The New Defender


July 1, 2025

The Land Rover Defenders parked at 10 Easy Street may look classic, but take a closer look and you’ll find something truly extraordinary. While the cars themselves retain the iconic silhouettes of vintage off-roaders, everything beneath the surface has been completely reimagined—down to the very last nut and bolt.


“You’ll never find anything as bespoke or as one-of-one as this,” said Kevin Kastner, the Chief Revenue Officer of ECD Auto Design, which is showcasing two of its models on Nantucket this year. “These are extremely unique vehicles. You can certainly customize a Jeep, but to achieve this level of craftsmanship and performance, there’s simply nothing else like it.”


ECD Auto Design, a Florida-based builder of luxury, handcrafted vehicles, offers a concierge approach to car building. The journey is as tailored and immersive as the final product itself. Here’s how it works. The company sources original Defenders, Mustangs, Jaguar E-Types and Land Rover Classics and works with clients to transform the vehicle into a fully customized and modernized creation based on a driver’s specifications—so much so that the driver ends up choosing the very leather, wheels and engine they want.


“You get the classic appearance of an early series truck with the reliability and comfort of a brand-new vehicle,” Kastner said. “From a modern powertrain to Apple CarPlay, reverse cameras, wireless charging pads and USB-C ports—it’s allthere. The beauty is, you dream up the perfect car, and then webring that version to life.”


In addition to the custom-made builds, ECD also offers a line of stock vehicles known as the County Collection. Each is named after a U.K. county. Isle of Wight is a Defender 110 finished in lush green. Essex is a vibrant yellow soft-top Defender built for summer driving. After selling several Land Rover Defender Beach Runners on Nantucket last summer, ECD returned in April with more Defenders and will keep multiple cars staged at 10 Easy Street through December.


These vehicles—whether they’re custom made or part of the County Collection, fit perfectly with the island’s culture of early series trucks and classic 4x4s. “These aren’t meant to be recreated,” Kastner said. “They’re built for you, and you only. Ideally they become more than vehicles—they become heirlooms.”

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