O LR + potente

The iconic British Land Rover has been turned into an £80,000 sports car by two fans of the off-road classic.

The Bell Aurens Longnose – designed by Thomas Bell and fellow enthusiast Holger Kalvelage – will be more powerful than a Ferrari.

Using a long wheel base Land Rover 109, they plan to fit it with a massive V16 engine, slice the top off and revamp the interior.

Roadster: How the Bell Aurens Longnose will look

But the Longnose will stick to the traditionally minimalist Land Rover cockpit, including the distinctive wide steering wheel.

But an aluminium finish and leather seats have been added.

And the front grille and headlights will still bear a strong resemblance to the classic series two Land Rover, which was first launched in 1958.

All the components, from the axles to the gearbox and steering system, will come from classic Land Rover models like the Defender.

And even the traditional leaf spring chassis will be in place so the driver feels “every detail of the road’s surface unvarnished and without any compromise.” The open-top “off-roadster” will be available to buy in black, Sahara cream or in British racing green.

When produced for public us it will be available with either a V8, V12 or even a whopping V16 engine.

Work in progress: Thomas Bell and Holger Kalvelage will fit a massive V16 engine

The most powerful options available to buy will be able to churn out an impressive 700 break horse power.

A Ferrari 430 can only develop 483bhp.

But, leaving the rest of the competition behind, a special version will feature the Merlin engine out of another British icon, the Spitfire - and will be able to produce a staggering 1,500bhp.

Briton Mr Bell and German Mr Kalvelage came up with the idea after meeting on an online forum.

They immediately set about combining their two loves - the classic British roadster and the Land Rover.

The result is the 15ft long, six feet wide Longnose, which Mr Bell, 33, and Mr Kalvelage, 46, describe as being 'full of character, authoritative and stylish'.

Mr Kalvelage said: ‘I first fell in love with the Land Rover at a very early age when I used to see them being used by the military close to where I grew up.

Suped-up: Despite developing a massive 700bhp the car will be limited to 125mph

‘It is such an iconic car all over the world and is certainly very special to both of us. In fact, between us we own five Land Rovers.

‘We came up with the idea for the Longnose three years ago but the hardest part was finding a factory who could manufacture the cars for us.

‘Eventually we found one who were as excited as we were about the project.

‘We see it as a deferent evolution of an icon of the British automotive industry.

‘The Longnose is truly an offroader from the front fender to the rear lights - yet it is still a roadster.’

But he says that because most of the car will come from an original series two Land Rover, they plan to limit the speed to around 125mph for safety reasons.

He said: ‘The top engine available to buy will be a 700bhp, V16 engine but we are also planning on building a special edition with a Merlin engine from a Spitfire.

Slick: The Longnose comes in racing green and Sahara cream

‘It will be fantastic to combine two British icons like the Land Rover and the Spitfire.’ Mr Kalvelage added: ‘Every piece of the Longnose will be handbuilt from the original Land Rover part.

‘We want to keep it as exclusive as possible so we are only planning to build ten each year.

‘Buyers can either come to us with their own Land Rover 109s for us to rebuild or we can buy one for them.

‘We”ve actually already had around ten orders from people all over Europe.

‘We are planning to show the prototype Longnose in Peterborough, in September.’ Anyone ordering a Longnose will get inducted into the exclusive Bell Aurens Owner Club.

And they will be invited to travel to the factory, in Nuremberg, Germany, to see their vehicle on the production line.

They will also get an exclusive Bell Aurens register which logs all the owners of the cars as well as detailing exactly who was responsible for crafting their vehicle.

A spokeswoman for Land Rover said: ‘We have had no involvement in this project.