GARAGE FEATURE
Location: Castres, France
Photographer: Valentin Popineau
Some people buy project cars. Others seem incapable of leaving anything untouched.
For Auré, creativity has always worked that way. BMX bikes, motorcycles, furniture, apartment renovations, restaurant design, even restoring an old farmhouse in the south of France that initially consisted of little more than four walls and a roof. There always seems to be another project waiting somewhere in the background, just like another garage and owner we spoke with in New York.
This time, it was a Land Rover Defender.
Not because he had experience restoring cars. In fact, he had never really worked on a car before this one. But he had always loved old machines with personality, especially vehicles with simple, honest lines and mechanical character. The Defender had stayed in the back of his mind for years.
Then the right one appeared.
Auré came across two local Defender enthusiasts in his town in southern France. Both were collectors and builders. One conversation led to another, and eventually he found a 1988 Defender with exactly what matters most on an old Land Rover: a clean chassis and solid bulkhead.
“The chassis, haha,” he says when asked why he bought this particular truck. “That’s rare on a Defender from that era.”
Everything else needed work.
Perfect.
Learning as He Went
The Defender restoration took roughly a year and a half, completed almost entirely during evenings and spare time. There was no deadline and no pressure to finish quickly.
The pressure wasn't needed. “When I commit to something, I stick with it seriously,” a common through line we see with owners of garages.
The first step was swapping in a 1998 200Tdi engine, widely regarded by Defender enthusiasts as one of Land Rover’s best powerplants. Purely mechanical. No electronics. Reliable, simple, and full of character.
Auré didn’t want to build something overpowered or flashy. The goal was to create a Defender that felt clean, dependable, and true to itself.
The engine received a few thoughtful upgrades along the way: a larger intercooler, optimized injection pump, and a slight increase in turbo pressure. Beyond that, the focus shifted toward reliability. The gearbox, transfer case, and steering box were all rebuilt from the ground up, addressing some of the most common weak points on older Defenders.
The steering box nearly broke him.
“It was leaking like a sieve,” he says. Instead of replacing it outright, he insisted on restoring it himself, which meant removing and rebuilding it three separate times before finally getting it right. Anyone who has worked on old mechanical systems knows exactly the kind of frustration he’s talking about.
Still, he kept going.
The mechanical work was only half the story.
Bodywork became its own education.
Auré had never done bodywork before starting the Defender. Dent removal, filler work, endless sanding, paint preparation. Nearly six months disappeared into learning the process properly.
A local bodywork specialist spent several hours teaching him the fundamentals early on, sharing techniques and advice before Auré took over and taught himself the rest.
The paint color eventually became one of the defining parts of the build.
RAL 7039.
It’s a muted grey tone Auré originally discovered through his work in carpentry. Depending on the light, the color shifts slightly, balancing modern industrial tones with something that still feels appropriately British and understated.
“It keeps that English DNA while bringing a modern touch.”
The result feels exactly right on the Defender’s straight-edged bodywork.
Modernized, but not modern.
Keeping the Soul Intact
The interior followed the same philosophy.
Everything was custom made. The dashboard, trim pieces, and accessories were all fabricated specifically for the project. Stainless steel details were added throughout to sharpen things visually without losing the Defender’s original personality, while leather brought warmth back into the cabin.
The goal was never perfection.
It was preservation with restraint.
That philosophy carries through the entire truck. Nothing feels overly restored or disconnected from the Defender’s roots. It still looks like something meant to be used. Muddy roads would not ruin the experience here, they’ll improve it.
The Moment Every Project Leads Toward
After a year and a half spent rebuilding nearly every major system, the Defender was finally ready for its first startup.
That moment matters on every project.
Especially the first one.
Auré still remembers turning the key for the first time after everything had been reassembled.
“One turn of the key, three seconds, and it started.”
Then came the problem.
The engine wouldn’t shut off.
A wiring issue with the fuel cut-off forced some last-minute improvisation inside the garage, creating a temporary contact at the solenoid just to stop the engine. Not exactly a flawless victory lap, but moments like that feel fitting on old vehicles like this.
The first drive took a few miles to settle into.
Old Defenders do not drive like modern vehicles. The steering feels vague. The handling moves around. Everything vibrates slightly. But once the initial nerves disappeared, the truck felt exactly how he hoped it would.
Mechanical. Honest. Alive.
One Dream Down, Two to Go
For Auré, the Defender was never meant to be the final project.
There’s always something else happening. More furniture to build. More renovations around the farmhouse. More ideas waiting in the garage.
But there are still two major dreams left on the list.
First, expanding the garage into something even larger. More space for gear, tools, and most importantly, more projects.
And second?
Restoring a Porsche 911.
“The only thing holding me back there is the budget,” he says, laughing.
Still, after seeing what he accomplished with his very first car restoration, this is less a question of if and more like when.
