Cobra seats for a Land Rover Defender: the range, the brackets and what fits
Land Rover Defender, Cobra Seats
The call we take most often about a Defender is not about seats at all. It is somebody who has driven theirs to Scotland and back and got out of it walking like a much older man. The seat is the reason, and it is usually the cheapest thing on the vehicle to fix properly.
Cobra list seven seats for the Defender and there is one thing worth knowing before you look at any of them. A Cobra listing with Land Rover Defender in the name is the standard seat, supplied with Defender brackets. It is not a special shell built for a small market, which is what most people quietly assume and then worry about.
So the choice in front of you is the same choice anyone buying a Cobra makes, with the fitting already sorted. Here is how the seven differ, what the brackets actually save you, and the two things Cameron and Garreth argue about every time it comes up.
- Every reclining Defender seat here has a base cushion that lifts out to reach the battery
- Most Defender listings are the standard shell supplied with the brackets, but two are seat only
- Cobra price per seat, so doing both sides means two of everything
- The Defender and the 90 are separate listings and they are not priced the same
What "Land Rover Defender" means on a Cobra listing
Mostly it means the fitting. Cobra build the Le Mans, the Daytona, the Monaco and the rest for everything, then supply most of them with the brackets for a particular vehicle. The shell you get on a Defender listing is the shell everybody else gets. Two of the seven are the exception and come seat only, which is flagged again next to the table below.
Garreth says that is the bit worth hearing first, because people see a vehicle name on a seat and assume somebody has cut a corner somewhere to make it work. Nobody has. You are getting the seat Cobra have spent a decade refining, with the awkward part already handled.
On the reclining listings there is a second thing in the box, and it is the one that catches people out in a good way. The base cushion lifts out.
The base comes out to get at the battery
Anyone who has owned a Defender knows where this is going. The battery lives under the seat, and on a standard setup getting to it is a job you put off. On every reclining seat here the base cushion lifts straight off the frame by hand, so the battery is there in front of you without a spanner going anywhere near the seat mountings.
The rule is the backrest. If it reclines, the base comes out: Le Mans, Heritage, Daytona, Stuttgart, Misano, the lot. The two Monacos are fixed back one piece shells, so there is no separate cushion to lift and it does not apply to them. That is worth weighing against the £274.00, because on a Defender it is a real thing you give up.
Cameron rates it higher than most of the specification and he has a point. It is the difference between a five minute job and an afternoon, and you only appreciate it the second time you need it. Some of the listings picture it and some do not, so do not read anything into the photograph: the top inset is the base off the frame, the bottom one is a hand lifting it, and the seats without those insets work the same way.
Prices include VAT and are per seat. Tell us the year of the vehicle and we will confirm what is in the box before anything ships.
Which is why the Defender listing is the cheaper way in when the seat you want is on it. Buy the Le Mans on its own and add the subframe and you are at £874.00. The Defender listing is £750.00 for the seat and the brackets together.
The separate subframe earns its keep in the other direction. If you have already got a seat, or you want something Cobra do not list with Defender brackets, £255.00 gets you the base frame and the sliding runner onto the original mounting points with no drilling. Cobra put the runner in that price. Sparco, Planted, OMP, Recaro and Corbeau all charge for theirs on top.
One thing to get right at the order stage. Cobra price per seat, every time. Two seats means two brackets, two subframes, two of whatever you are looking at.
Tell us the yearDefender brackets changed over the production run and some vehicles need an airbag resistor so a warning light does not appear once the original seat is out. Send us the year and we will confirm the complete kit in writing before anything ships. Call the showroom on 0115 9893488.
The seven, compared
Cheapest first. The number in the last column is the one that decides it most often, so it is worth a glance even if the rest is a blur.
| Seat | Back | Base lifts out | Price | The number that matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monaco Pro | Fixed | No, one piece shell | £274.00 | FIA 8855-1999, 11.4kg |
| Monaco Premium | Fixed | No, one piece shell | £390.00 | Same seat, contrasting colour band |
| Le Mans | Reclining | Yes | £750.00 | 540mm wide, 13.4kg |
| Le Mans Heritage | Reclining | Yes | £750.00 | Fluted panels, no logos |
| Daytona | Reclining | Yes | £774.60 | 580mm across, the widest recliner Cobra make |
| Stuttgart | Reclining | Yes | £859.00 | 530mm deep, the shallowest |
| Misano Anniversary | Reclining | Yes | £1,674.00 | 885mm tall, 11.5kg |
Prices inc VAT and per seat, verified 16 September 2026. Every reclining seat takes a base that lifts out; the two fixed back Monacos are one piece shells.
Two of these are seat onlyFive of the seven come with the Defender brackets in the price. The Misano Anniversary and the Stuttgart do not: both are listed seat only, so add a subframe at £255.00 a side. That puts the Misano at £1,929.00 fitted and the Stuttgart at £1,114.00 rather than the figures in the table. Ring us before you order either of those two and we will put what arrives in writing.
The Le Mans pair on our floor. Vinyl on the bolsters and the wear points, spacer fabric through the middle where you sit.
Cobra Le Mans, £750.00
The one most Defenders end up with, and for a good reason. The orthopaedic style backrest supports the length of your back instead of gripping your ribs, which is what you want on a four hour drive to a show and is the opposite of what a competition bucket does. 820mm tall, 540mm wide, 620mm deep on a 540mm base, 13.4kg of steel. Base mount at the 291mm pattern, four point harness routing, waists 32 to 38 inches, Road and Track approved.
Cameron’s line on it is that the recline is not a luxury in this vehicle. You change position on a long run without thinking about it, and a fixed back will not let you. The base lifts out on this one for the battery. If you want the same seat in a period finish, the Heritage is the same money with fluted centre panels and no logos, and it takes the same lift out base.
Cobra Daytona, £774.60
580mm across, which makes it the widest recliner Cobra build. In a Defender that is not a statistic, it is whether you fit in the thing wearing a coat in February. Deep side bolsters, lumbar support under an orthopaedic backrest, 865mm tall and 620mm deep on a 530mm base at 13.5kg.
The reclining mechanism is tested to ECE R17 and FMVSS207, the regulations covering seat and anchorage strength, and the base lifts out on this one as well. So the trade is £24.60 over the Le Mans for forty millimetres of width, and Garreth will ask what you wear when you drive it before he tells you which way to go.
Cobra Stuttgart, £859.00
530mm deep, shallower front to back than almost anything else Cobra make. In a Defender the distance between the bulkhead and the seat box is fixed and unforgiving, and that shallow depth is often the difference between a reclining seat fitting and not. 800mm tall, 520mm wide on a 500mm base, 13.2kg, with the lift out base for the battery like the rest of the recliners. Fifteen vinyl trim combinations, made to order, and it is listed seat only so a subframe goes on top at £255.00.
Cameron reaches for this one whenever somebody tells him a recliner has already fouled their bulkhead. Garreth will not let it go out without a phone call first: the listing says package, the attributes read as seat only, and a two minute check beats a wasted delivery. Ring us and we will put what is included in writing.
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The other four
The two Monacos are the fixed backs, and this is the argument that comes up every time. Cameron will point at the Monaco Pro all day: it is £274.00, it is FIA 8855-1999 homologated, it is fully steel plated with a solid back and base, and it is 11.4kg. Pound for pound nothing else in the range touches it.
Garreth’s answer is that he has taken the phone calls. A seat that holds you beautifully for twenty minutes becomes an argument on the way back from Wales, and a Defender is a vehicle people sit in for hours. He also points out that the fixed back is the one choice on this page that costs you the lift out base, so the battery goes back to being a job. If yours does distance, buy the recline. If it is used hard and briefly, or you are running harnesses, Cameron is right and the Monaco is the seat.
FIA seats carry an expiry tied to their manufacture date and scrutineers check it, so ask us for the date if you compete. The Heritage is the Le Mans in period trim, brackets included like the Le Mans itself.
At the top of the range the Misano is a reclining seat with real lateral support and high density foam that holds instead of compressing under you, on a fibreglass back and a steel base. It is the one to read carefully before you order, because it is listed seat only. Add a subframe a side and the £1,674.00 becomes £1,929.00.
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Original price was: £1,794.00.£1,674.00Current price is: £1,674.00. Incl. VATPayPal CreditKlarna ReadySelect options
Both sides, and the 90
Cobra hand trim these in the UK, so a pair specified together is trimmed together. Matching a colour across two orders months apart is possible and it is less reliable, which is the real argument for the pair listing. It is £1,470.00 against £1,500.00 for two singles, so the saving is thirty pounds and the matching is the point.
Worth saying as well that the passenger is in the vehicle as long as you are, over the same ground. A standard seat next to a supportive one gets noticed inside the first hour.
On the 90, check the price instead of assuming it carries across. Cobra list the Defender and the 90 separately and they do not match. The Daytona is £688.75 on the 90 against £774.60 on the Defender, so the 90 is cheaper there. The Monaco Pro goes the other way, £387.60 on the 90 against £274.00. Same brand, same week. Tell us which vehicle you have and we will quote the right one.
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From £255.00 Incl. VATPayPal CreditKlarna ReadySelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
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From £255.00 Incl. VATPayPal CreditKlarna ReadySelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Common questions
Is a Defender seat different from the standard Cobra seat?
The shell is the same seat Cobra sell across the range. What the Defender listing adds is the brackets to fit it, which is why it costs more than the seat on its own and less than the seat plus a separate subframe, and on every reclining one a base cushion that lifts out for the battery.
Can I still get to the battery under the seat?
Yes on all five reclining seats: the Le Mans, the Heritage, the Daytona, the Stuttgart and the Misano. The base cushion lifts off the frame by hand. The two Monacos are fixed back one piece shells, so there is no separate cushion and the answer there is no.
Do I need to drill anything?
No. The direct fit subframes pick up the vehicle original seat mounting points. Some years need an airbag resistor so a warning light does not appear once the original seat is out, and that is not in every kit, so tell us the year and we will confirm.
Are the runners included?
Yes on Cobra. The subframe price covers the base frame and the sliding runner together. Sparco, Planted, OMP, Recaro and Corbeau all price their runners separately, so compare the complete stack when you are looking across brands.
Fixed back or reclining in a Defender?
Reclining if the vehicle does distance, which most do. The lateral hold of a fixed back is better and you pay for it over a four hour drive with no way to change position. Fixed back makes sense if the vehicle is used hard and briefly, or if you are running a four or six point harness.
Will one of these fit my bulkhead?
Depth is what usually decides it. The Stuttgart at 530mm is the shallowest Cobra make and is often the answer where a deeper recliner has already fouled. Ring the showroom with the vehicle and we will talk it through.
What about a seat I already own?
The Defender subframes at £255.00 take base mountable bucket seats and reclining sport seats on a 291mm or 405mm handle. A side mounted seat needs adaption bars or side mounts adding, and so does a Motorsport seat or a Cobra Nogaro. Tell us the seat in the comments box at checkout.
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Not sure whichTell us the year, your height and your waist
Cameron and Garreth sit in these seats every day and the showroom has the whole Cobra range on the floor. Three details settle it in about a minute: the year of the vehicle, how tall you are, and whether it does long drives or short hard ones. Call 0115 9893488 or come and sit in them.
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