t’s probably the stuff of nightmares for most Defender owners. Roaring down slushy tracks in gloomy forests, leaping over ditches and hammering through muddy puddles.

But the Bowler Defender Rally Challenge is heading into its third season and looks set for a record year of competition.

The Challenge is based on the Land Rover Defender 90 with the Ingenium 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine. Bowler has added a full roll cage, modified underbody, raised suspension, motorsport specification 18in wheels and column-mounted paddle shifters. According to Bowler, the more compact, shorter wheelbase Defender 90 proved the perfect starting point for the conversion.

Each vehicle is completely stripped back to install a full FIA-compliant roll cage and the chassis tweaked to increase stiffness. The front and rear subframes are modified and given additional bracing to accommodate the uprated suspension set-up, which is designed in collaboration with Fox and increases the ride height by 25mm.

Bowler’s engineers also add a suite of electronic components from fire protection and electrical cut-offs to additional lighting and vehicle control systems, fully integrated into the existing electrical architecture. The Bowler-developed column-mounted paddle shift completes the transition.

The standard doors are trimmed to remove the sill covering section, which allows the fitment of full-length, side-to-side underbody protection panels. Additionally, the front end of the vehicle is modified to increase airflow to the cooling system and houses additional lighting, while a new roof spoiler houses additional rear lighting.

There are a number of race-prepared Bowler Defenders in New Zealand, though they are all the older-model ‘Landie’, mostly with the Rover V8 engine. It is reasonable to expect that local Bowler fanatics are following the UK series with interest.