Tough ‘Tithonus butterfly’ truck undergoes final transformation to reveal completely new look
Tithonus Land Rover final black and blingy reveal
After 12 months of blood sweat and swearing, the much anticipated extreme design and renovation make over of the Tithonus is now compete - primarily pieced together by Design Director Neil Davidson shipping in mechanical bits and bobs from the UK and US.
The other large part of work was undertaken by the team at Wild Side Garage who did a great job, painstakingly prepping, sanding and painting the 32 year old Landrover in the start of the art military spec Raptor Coat. The awesome wheel rims were transformed by the team at the Alloy Doctor. Custom Jerry Can Holders and rear end metalwork was designed from CDG but fabricated and powdercoated by Langfords and Kilners Engineering. Thanks to the world class trades that we are so lucky to have here in Brisbane.
The results are trans-formative the combination of the bad-ass black paint that's a matt style automotive Raptor paint that usually is a for ute tray protectors so it has a definite edge. This edge is set off nicely by the glossy black metallic paint on the doors and some extreme wheel bling!
Neil was very excited to have secured the last 4 BFG KM2s in the country. This increadibly popular tyre has finally gone end of manufacturing life and replaced by the KM3 however this iconic wheel was the perfect aesthetic for this project build.
Before the makeover Tithonus - was a long-serving member of the British military and specifically the Military Police as a Radio Communication Platform, purchased from an British expat, who shipped it to Queensland from the UK for his own use, but had decided to put it up for sale.
Before buying Tithonus, Neil kept an eye out for the right project vehicle for CDG and after one drive knew was the right match- it was love at first test drive.
“I was looking out for a truck with a little bit of history and these had it in spades, said Neil!”
“Because the British create the first Land Rover to be the first true four wheel drive and because of Tithonus’s stint in the military.
“As a Designer I can appreciate the massive constraint the Rover Engineers faced, needing to create a car during the post-war steel shortage.
“For example they created the HUE 166 model’s chassis out of steel and the vehicle body out of reclaimed aircraft parts.
“This materials shortage and engineers’ resourcefulness ultimately dictated what would later become the iconic design of the rivet panel Land Rover.”
The Land Rover HUE 166 showed the test of time for almost 70 years and reinvigorated the British economy as it continued to sell well from a post-war downturn to the end of its run, with Rover selling an impressive 2 million of those vehicles.
The Land Rover Tithonus - named by the military upgrade program called Project Tithonus after a butterfly because was an expensive UK military wide mechanical overhaul and life extension program.
The British Military’s Tithonus Program spent £10,000 000 between 2007-2009 over three years breathing new life into the ‘fatigued’ army trucks, giving each vehicle among other upgrades a new Land Rover engine and a fresh coat of paint with the aim of increasing their year in the service.
CDG’s 110 Land Rover Defender was one of the thousands of green military work horses and some of them even found new lives in far flung places around the globe, including the US, Norway and Australia of course! CDG’s breed of Land Rover is a 1987 110 model retired from active duty in 2012.
The refurbished 110s are sentimental buys for a real enthusiast after the last Land Rover rolled off the production line in January 2016.
The CDG team is pretty excited to have the old truck restored in Clandestine Brand aesthetics whilst honouring and respectings its authetic military history.
Some of our clients have definitely been surprised and delighted by getting picked up from the Airport arrivals lane in this little beastie :)