--- title: "East Coast Defender’s Honey Badger Is a Corvette-Powered Stick Shift Land Rover" description: "So many things we love, brought together in one place." date: "2017-06-26" modified: "2017-06-26" authors: - name: "Will Sabel Courtney" job_title: "Contributor" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/will-sabel-courtney" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/11854/east-coast-defenders-honey-badger-is-a-corvette-powered-stick-shift-land-rover" categories: - "Builds" - "Culture" - "Land Rover News" - "News" - "News by Brand" tags: - "Corvette" - "Defender" - "east coast defender" - "honey badger" - "land rover" - "luxury" - "manual" - "Off-Road" - "stick shift" - "suv/crossover" - "V-8" --- # East Coast Defender’s Honey Badger Is a Corvette-Powered Stick Shift Land Rover ![]() *\www.thedrive.com\* The maniacs at [East Coast Defender]() are no stranger to building lustworthy Land Rover Defenders. The Florida-based company has been restoring and restomodding old Landies for years now—in particular, carving out a nice niche for itself dropping LS3 smallblock V8s usually found under the hood of Chevy Corvettes into the off-roader's boxy nose. The company's latest project, however, takes things a bit further: Not only did East Coast Defender [drop a Corvette engine]() into [a Land Rover](), the team also outfitted it with a manual gearbox. The build is named 'Project Honey Badger,' presumably after [the six-year-old Internet meme ]()and not [the compact suppressed firearm designed for American special forces](). From the outside, only a true Land Rover buff would be able to distinguish this Honey Badger from any of the other Defender 90s roaming the world; apart from the LED lighting, the only thing that stands out is how new the vehicle looks in spite of its classic status. ![message-editor%2F1498496423945-badger2.jpg]() *East Coast Defender* ![message-editor%2F1498496432022-badger4.jpg]() *East Coast Defender* ![message-editor%2F1498496438676-badger3.jpg]() *East Coast Defender* ![message-editor%2F1498496446585-badger8.jpg]() *East Coast Defender* ![message-editor%2F1498496455929-badger7.jpg]() *East Coast Defender* ![message-editor%2F1498496465937-badger6.jpg]() *East Coast Defender* Inside, however, it's a different story. The guts of this rock crawler are upholstered in white leather, with a pair of heated racing seats up front and a set of cowhide-wrapped jump seats astern. But the real story lies between those jump seats, mounted next to the four-wheel-drive selector lever: the long shifter for the Tremec T-56 six-speed manual gearbox. The stick shift is in charge of directing the power from the 430-horsepower 6.2-liter V8—[still wearing Corvette logos]()—to the Land Rover's wheels. According to East Coast Defender, that's enough power to send this brute from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than six seconds. More importantly, however, it sounds friggin' heavenly. https://youtube.com/embed/9XwoYKhNBJU If you want one, however, it doesn't come cheap. [According to *Motor1*](), taking home a Defender just like Project Honey Badger will cost you around $159,000. But still: Land Rover Defender. Corvette V8. Manual transmission. ![message-editor%2F1498494610844-stop\_penis\_erect\_archer.gif]() **Reaction GIFs / Archer** ## Author Will is the former managing editor of *RIDES Magazine* and the former online editor for *0-60 Magazine*. He has worked for *Time Out New York* and *Rolling Stone*, and was the creator of *College Cars Online*, the first automotive blog specifically targeted at college students and young professionals. ### Author social links [Instagram]() [Twitter]()