Based out of Southern California, West Coast Defender searches the world for Defender 90s and 110s from 1989 and earlier, old enough to get around U.S. customs restrictions on gas-guzzling SUVs. “We’re scouting 24/7, 365,” Perlman says. “When we get a lead on a car, we usually have about 24 hours to close the deal.”
He has two dedicated scouts in the United States and three overseas, all of them ready to board a plane at a moment’s notice to check out candidate Defenders in person. They reject 90 percent of the models they inspect, usually because the chassis isn’t up to par. “If it has any rust on it, it’s done,” Perlman says.
