It’s a toy. But as an adult you’re going to want to keep this on your desk. That’s because it’s very well made and will leave you imagining the places you’d go if you owned a real version of the vehicle this toy images itself to be. It comes from an outfit called Candylab Toys, and this specific model is called the Drifter.
[Disclaimer: Candylab sent me a Drifter of my own, at no cost. Thankfully a human drifter didn’t show up at my door. I should read my emails more carefully.]
The Drifter arrives in strong and stylish packaging. You can tell right away that care and effort have gone into the creation of the toy inside, before you even peel open its enclosing materials. Once opened up, you’ll a bubble-wrapped surf-prepped SUV modeled after a certain iconic British beastie just waiting for you to set it free.
Now, I should stop right here to tell you that I’m an idiot. I assumed the surfboard had to slide under the canvas top, which is why you see it that way a number of these photos. Candylab is smarter than I, however, and it’s a magnetic piece that rides over the canvas and sticks to the roof.
The Drifter is hand assembled in the States. The top is real waxed canvas and the body of the vehicle is solid beech wood. That’s real rubber on the tires too. The result is a toy that almost looks too good to play with, but it’s solid wood so it should hold up well.
This one isn’t cheap though. Candylab plans to crank out a limited run of its Drifter model, and each one costs $64.95. There are, however, less expensive but equally cool options to be found on their site. Like the Grand Wagoneer-inspired Pioneer that comes complete with wood grain and a roof-mounted canoe.
The quality and style of this toy is truly top notch. I hope that comes across in my photos. I wasn’t expecting much before it arrived, and now I’m thinking about adding a few more from the Candylab Toys collection. For now though, the Drifter has earned a prime parking spot on my (currently very messy) desk.
[Images copyright 2018 Hooniverse/Jeff Glucker]
By Jeff Glucker
Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff
Ross Ballot 
Kamil Kaluski
Looks like a 65 dollar pinewood derby car, with an admittedly nice box. 65 bucks gets you a nice scale model on ebay as far as I’m concerned.
The other models on their site are 24-35, which is far more reasonable.
That’s certainly reasonable for an american made toy
Agreed, you can pick up a Shuco 1/64 Land Rover defender for under $20, ok it’s small but it’s perfectly formed. I reckon for an LR fan it’s a better way to fulfill your desire for one in miniature, also at even smaller scale (1/76), Oxford Diecast does a fantastic selection of Land Rovers from the early S1 up to the latest Range Rover and Discovery that’s perfect for any desktop. This just seems a bit designery-pretentious to me, but each to their own.
Reminds me of this:
It had better be organic firewood.
Clicked hoping to read about someone building a Land Rover based drift car…