b500 magazine
ANDY STACEY Creative Brand Manager
Arkonik Brand creator and guardian. Andy joined the Defender specialists five years ago after 20 years agency experience, whereby he gained an enviable portfolio working with brands such as Sony, National Trust and Honda. A petrolhead at heart, Andy loves all genres of automobiles from spectating at grass roots motorsport level to marvelling over automotive exotica on the hallowed turf of Pebble Beach.
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ell, it’s taken over a year but we’re finally back on the UK show scene. The London Classic Car Show at Syon Park played a galant host to our first event since pre-Covid times when we exhibited with TAROX® brakes at the Autosport show last year. Surrounded by a plethora of rare and classic gems, ‘UJO’ took centre stage on our stand and immediately drew the crowds. It was great to speak to so many fans and owners alike, sharing their unique stories yet collectively bestowing us with praise and compliments for the level of detail and attention lavished upon our Land Rover 110 ‘restomod’.
The event ran superbly, Covid compliant and judging by the number of attendees, a complete success for all. We were proud to attend and support and will certainly aim to return in 2022. Our next planned event is at CarFest South in August. Curated by petrolhead and avid fundraiser Chris Evans, it’s an event which goes way beyond cars and is very much aimed at the whole family, with music and fun activities interwoven with a rich display of automotive candy. Behind the scenes we have been busy collaborating with REC Watches to produce a limited edition timepiece. Taking inspiration and literally parts from the original ‘UJO’, with the dial cut directly from it’s rear door. Launching 8th July, it will be a strictly limited run of 302 pieces and you can register your interest at www.rec-watches.com Meanwhile back at HQ, our unique Étienne build continues to gather momentum as it moves through our production process. Del from B500X came down a few weeks ago and was very pleased with what he found. The vehicle is now a rolling chassis and has had its panels dry fitted for perfect alignment. Once the bodywork is arrow straight, it will be primed ready for paint whereby it will be coated in Pennine Grey, a classic Land Rover hue and one which will showcase the unique lines of this bespoke Defender.
Across the pond our clients continue to fly in and drive out. The majority of these builds have had our LS3 engine swap and auto transmission upgrades – the perfect combination for tearing up the highways stateside. A big development for Arkonik is that we can now offer restorations to clients’ own vehicles. This is an exciting addition to our core business. Our expert technicians can completely restore and enhance clients own Land Rovers. From the original Series I, Range Rover Classic right up to the modern-era Puma Defender models. Infinite customisation options are available and clients can choose to keep either the original engine or go for a huge increase in power with our popular 6.2 LS3 engine transplants mated to a 6 speed automatic or manual transmission. Like our Legacy builds, all restorations start with a detailed design consultation and come with a 12-month warranty for complete peace of mind. We have already started production on a number of these restorations and it will be great to see these right-hand drive Defenders transformed and given a new lease of life. Looking forward to seeing you all at our next event, stay safe.
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