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, the original
purchase invoice shows that it cost £15,462.
Our vendor regards the 110
V8 as the finest Defender made, but when he went to buy this one he was told
that new ones were no longer available because the model had been discontinued.
The salesman tried to fob him off with a 2.5 TDi 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 special order for use as ambulances, electricity
pylon maintenance etc) and they agreed to make this one specially for him using
new parts still in stock. It was delivered in March 1991 which makes it perhaps
the last one ever made.
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 up around a new
galvanized 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 galvanized 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 just 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 ‘Santana’ 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 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 the 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 a tailored 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) plus sundry other useful
spares; spare keys for the ignition, all the doors, the fuel cap and the
Disklok. It also has the original 50mm tow ball with an
interchangeable pintle for towing plant and equipment.
An original 28-page Defender ‘Built on Success’ sales brochure is
also present, along with 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. 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 super 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 very sweetly indeed as we have moved it around on
site, with delightfully light and direct power steering. 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 photos 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!
The best 1990s Defender we have ever seen, with some useful
upgrades, 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
quite possibly the last 110 V8 ever made and we are told that it has never been
used off-road. Meticulously restored 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...
Consigned by James Dennison –
07970 309907 – [email protected]