Lot Ended
Description
Effectively one owner from new; possibly the last 110 V8
made; restored at a cost of over £30k and only 130 miles since; new
Marsland galvanised chassis with VIN number; engine rebuilt to 3.9 spec with
Kent Sports Torque cam; gearbox and transfer box rebuilt; power steering;
runs beautifully; find a better one!
This remarkable Land Rover
Defender 110 V8 was supplied new via Lex Rover of Maidenhead to our vendor’s
company for his own personal use. A top spec County Station Wagon, it has an
interesting story behind it.
Our vendor regards the 110 V8 as the finest
Defender made, but when he tried to replace his old one, he was told that
new ones were no longer available as the model had been discontinued. The
salesman tried to fob him off with the latest 2.5 TDi version but he
found it coarse and noisy by comparison and refused to buy it.
A call
was made to Land Rover Special Build (who tailor vehicles to order for forestry
work, ambulances, pylon maintenance etc) and they agreed to make this one
specially for him. It was delivered in March 1991 which makes it potentially the
last Defender CSW V8 ever made, although you will need to do your own
research on that score.
When he retired in 2000, our
vendor took the Defender with him. In the summer of 2017 he sold it to a
former employee who left it languishing in a field where it rapidly began
to deteriorate.
In February 2019 our vendor
bought it back again and commenced a total body-off restoration which took
almost five years to complete and cost well over £30,000. Although there are
only invoices for some of the work carried out, the results speak for
themselves.
It was built around a new
galvanised chassis made by GKN AutoStructures of Telford, a Certificate of
Authenticity on file confirming that this was: ‘Manufactured using all the same
materials, processes and quality control techniques as were stipulated at the
time of Original Equipment Manufacture’. Supplied via JE Marsland Ltd of
Stockport, the chassis cost £3,420 and was correctly stamped with the original
VIN number.
The vendor requested that the chassis be etched
and painted black because then, as now, Defenders were highly prized and
thieves were particularly attracted to ones with silver galvanised chassis' and
he didn't want it to get nicked! He also had galvanised inner front wings fitted
but these are still silver which rather gives the game
away...
The engine was fully rebuilt
by Turner Engineering of Lingfield at a cost of over £4,000
including conversion to 3.9-litres with new liners, pistons, con rods,
bearings, reground crank etc. The cylinder head was also rebuilt with new
valves, springs, hydraulic lifters, timing chain etc, plus an uprated Kent
Sports Torque camshaft. Being a V8, it has electronic ignition as
standard.
The LT85 high strength
‘Santana’ 5-speed manual gearbox and transfer box were rebuilt by Newbury
Transmissions at a cost of £3,120. The SU HIF44 carbs were rebuilt by Burlen at
a cost of £733.
Innumerable other jobs were
carried out for which there are no invoices, including new brakes, steering
and suspension with new shocks all round and the Boge self-leveling system
rebuilt. The interior was sympathetically retrimmed with new leather-bound
carpets, new headlining, refurbished Moorland Cloth seats, refurbished
steering wheel and additional sound-proofing.
It also had a new
exhaust system, new tyres, five new doors and a full repaint in the original Red
LRC 390 with Strobe Blue Defender side tapes. The spare wheel cover was no
longer available so our vendor had a new one specially made with the correct
'The Best 4x4xFar' graphics.
Since the restoration was
completed in April 2024, this Defender has only covered some 130 miles and will
require a careful running-in period before the V8 performance is exploited to
the full.
Turner Engineering strongly
recommend Millers Trident Professional 10/40 semi-synthetic oil as it contains
additives which are especially suited to this engine – the vendor has
thoughtfully left two 20-litre barrels of the stuff in the rear load area. He
advises that the gearbox needs 20/50 oil and the transfer box EP80.
Other goodies include an indoor vehicle cover; original jack and
wheel-changing kit; anti-theft Disklok; a radio and aerial (not yet fitted);
spare bulb kit (as supplied new with the vehicle); spare keys for the ignition,
all the doors, the fuel cap and the Disklok plus sundry other useful spares. It
also has the original 50mm tow ball with an interchangeable pintle for
towing plant and equipment.
Documentation includes the
original purchase invoice from Lex Rover; an original 28-page Defender
‘Built on Success’ sales brochure; an original 20-page accessories brochure
and price list plus the original Land Rover Extended Warranty Plan documents.
There are also over 100 photos of the vehicle while it was being restored plus
some notes from the vendor. The V5C is present and records three former
keepers (Starcrete Ltd; the vendor; his former employee).
As you can see in the photos, this Defender is in stunning condition
throughout, being as good underneath as it is up top. We are told that it drives
as well as it looks and it has been starting instantly and
running beautifully as we have moved it around on site, with
delightfully light and direct power steering and a wonderfully woofly exhaust
note. It has an MOT until March 2026 with no advisories recorded, as you would
expect.
Our vendor also owns the two
Stars either side of this Defender in the catalogue. We urge you to look at
the details for Lot 19, the Star Stella, which he also had restored to the
same exacting standard. As you will see, he is not a man to cut corners!
By far the best 1990s Defender we have ever seen, it can
comfortably seat six passengers up front and squeeze another eight in the rear
(albeit without seat belts). Essentially
built to work, it can pack a hefty 1,070kg payload and tow up to 4 tonnes with
coupled brakes. The 5-speed gearbox, combined with a high/low transfer box
giving permanent four-wheel-drive, provides no fewer than 10 forward and two
reverse gears to get you out of any situation.
Easy to drive around town
and pleasantly refined inside with durable Moorland Cloth seats, it has tough
aluminium body panels, runs happily on unleaded fuel and cruises easily at
motorway speeds and beyond. Being to County spec, it is at home literally
anywhere in the world, from the Sahara to the Savoy,
Gamely on offer at no reserve, this
is potentially the last 110 V8 made and we are told that it has never
been used off-road. Meticulously restored, judiciously uprated and hugely
capable, it is all the car you will ever need so bid vigorously now and it
could be you who drives it home...
PS: The vendor tells us that he still
has the original chassis for this vehicle which the winning bidder is welcome to
have if they wish, although it has some corrosion at the rear and will need to
be collected from South Oxfordshire area.
Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907 – james.dennison@brightwells.com