00:00We love Hot Wheels, Hot Wheels cars.
00:02Isn't that where every car obsession starts as a kid?
00:06That's it.
00:13We've probably been collecting Hot Wheels cars for maybe 15 years now.
00:17One of the main inspirations for the Land Rover build was the four-wheel drives down here.
00:26This is our creation of a Hot Wheels Land Rover Defender.
00:29It's actually a 1985 Land Rover Defender County.
00:34We bought it for $1,000, pretty much destined for the scrap heap.
00:39It was pretty bad shape.
00:41Total build time, it took about two years from start to finish.
00:44With the engine, we decided to go a V8 motor.
00:49So my wife wasn't too happy about that because it is pretty loud.
00:53The Defender weighs about 2,300 kilograms.
01:00My sons were a big help in the build, especially my oldest, Darian.
01:04He does a lot of the wooden fabrication in the car.
01:07It was a lot of fun and arguments and all that sort of stuff.
01:11We got there in the end.
01:12Yeah.
01:15We love Hot Wheels.
01:17Hot Wheels cars.
01:18And basically, we wanted something...
01:19It's all excited.
01:20Yeah.
01:21Isn't that where every car obsession starts as a kid?
01:24That's it.
01:26My dad first told me about wanting to restore an old Land Rover Defender when he came to me one
01:31day and was like,
01:32Oh, Deej, check this out.
01:34Wouldn't this be an awesome build?
01:36It was a photo of an old rusted out Land Rover Defender behind an old shed.
01:41I was pretty surprised at what he wanted to do, but at the same time, it was one of those
01:45builds that if we could pull it off, it would just set a new benchmark.
01:49I had a passion for vehicles pretty much my whole life.
01:52I remember being 12, 13 years old and getting my first car, fixing that up with my father.
01:58He has a lot of background in rebuilding cars.
02:01Without him, it wouldn't have been possible.
02:04It's a good project and I like working on cars as well.
02:07It was interesting to me.
02:09Do you remember when we had to pull apart this car for the first time?
02:12Yeah.
02:13I think the beauty about a Land Rover is you can pull it apart into heaps of pieces.
02:17Yeah.
02:17We counted up about 130 different parts, panels and things that needed to be sandblasted, powder coated.
02:26The main elements of this Land Rover would be the airbag suspension, the big wheels.
02:31The motor definitely sets it apart and the paint job is very unique.
02:36And the colour, well, I just wanted something that was bright.
02:40Back and forth for about a month.
02:43Yeah.
02:43Oh, what do you think of this colour now?
02:45And the colour that we ended up choosing for the car.
02:48You can't buy it.
02:49You just basically, we went in and mixed it up and came up with this colour.
02:54And it's a really cool colour because at night, under fluoro lights, the car glows.
02:58It's just a beautiful finish as well.
03:09Fender is 100% road legal.
03:11The top speed of the Defender hasn't really been tested.
03:14But I can say I've had it to about 160, 180.
03:19The total cost of the vehicle was probably about $30,000.
03:24Which was surprisingly good for a car that was modified as much as it is.
03:30A project like this, you don't build it for other people.
03:32You build it for ourselves and for the memories.
03:35I'll always be proud of my dad in anything that he does.
03:38And I guess that's why I'm so into cars and my ideas as well.
03:42And it all starts with him.
03:44I'm happy that they're showing interest in what I show interest in.
03:48I probably wouldn't consider selling the vehicle.
03:51Simply because three generations working on the vehicle.
03:55And my dad being 76 years old, it's good to have the memories of working on the vehicle with him.
04:03And my children being so young, they can have memories when they get older as well.
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