Don’t quite know how this “modern” Land Rover ended up here, but then there’s a few other “alien” cars about that seem to have slid in under the radar. It’s a fairly recent Defender series lwb Landy, with the 2.5L Tdi engine that was never offered here, but is certainly the desirable powerplant of choice for this kind of rig ready to take on the world. And this one is, with even a little “kitchen” aboard.
A little two-burner stove and sink are mounted along one side of the Landy’s extended rear body.
The 2.5 L direct-injected turbo-diesel four made some 107 hp, and churned out 195 lb.ft. of torque. Because of its profoundly greater efficiency, it took the majority of sales, except in the US, where only the gas V8 was offered in the Defender.
Love that rack and the ladder to get to it. Eat your heart out, Michael!
Sigh…. yes, yes I will Paul. A roof top tent on a Safety devices roof rack, a swing away rear spare carrier, a RTE bumper and bull bar, winter cabin air intake, winch, and lift kit, as well. Do want.
“Imported only in 1993 they are some of the most sought after vehicles not only because of the great number of enthusiasts that would like to own one but also because speculators and collectors limit the number of vehicles that come up for sale on ebay to may be 1 or 2 per month.
The total number of Land Rover imported Defender 110’s into North America is thought to be around 536 vehicles, all of which were originally white.
525 of them were tagged with a badge that either is xxx/500 for US vehicles or xx/25 for Canadian vehicles.
All have VIN#’s that are conform to US DOT/EPA standards
Very very rare are also Defender 110’s from 1993 that have been modified by a registered importer to be the same spec as the original NAS Defender 110’s, this is theoretically possible I have not ever seen such a vehicle but may be a few were done. This became possible after about 1999 or so when the NAS Defender 110 was petitioned to be on the Vehicle Eligibility List for vehicle that can be modified by a registered importer. The other vehicle that is also on the list is the 1997 Defender 90, check US DOT website for more details.
Legal grey imported DOT EPA certified Defender 110’s
Very few of these Defenders made it into the US before about 1987/88 when the US changed their grey import policies to make it next to impossible to legally import a Land Rover Defender even today.
Anyone selling such a vehicle will very much emphasis that it has the correct DOT/EPA paperwork, it is my understanding that the VIN number should also match North American numbering system.
Engine like the 3.5V8 gasoline and the 2.5 NA Diesel were imported and in case of the 3.5V8 surely were retrofitted with emission control devices.”
Per Ebay user Goofer.
More info here: http://www.eastcoastrover.com/imports.html
These LRs are the ones to go for. Frame and suspension issues have (mostly) been rectified, and the diesel has adequate torque for the beast. This is the polar opposite of the POS Series LRs, while giving the same rough outdoorsman driving experience. But the diesel was not offered there. Oh well, one can’t have everything.
Give it a few years, the diesel 110’s will be able to be imported under the US 25 year old exemption soon.
You can easily retrofit a 300tdi to a Defender with a manual tranny. East Coast Rovers does it all the time. And the Series Rovers could not have been too crappy, since they did travel the world over many time in them. Probably more than any other vehicle ever made.
Difference between a LR (British Jeep clone), and a Toyota LandCruiser (Japanese Jeep clone) or Nissan Patrol is like night and day. Original Series vehicles have no off-road cred at all, unless you are willing to do serious shoring up and modding, not to mention an endless supply of spares and money, that too only till the frame rusted out, which will be rather sooner than expected. Just buying a new-ish one is much better. For the classic experience, a Jeep or FJ40 should do it perfectly.
As for the LR adventure sagas, they are the source of my desire to own this vehicle! But they are probably either greatly exaggerated, or the owners had an endless supply of cheap spares, mechanical skills, and a lot of time. Not to mention the tales are old, when the crippling longevity issues due to poor part quality wouldn’t have arisen. The cheap spares phenomenon was possible till the 80s here, when ex-Army LRs could be had for a song, so it made a somewhat possible, if still not practical, choice. No longer.
Check out Jack Jackson’s book
http://www.amazon.com/The-Off-Road-4-Wheel-Drive-Book/dp/1859606067
from a man who was a professional expedition driver in Series Lrs
The only pieces that rust out on a series are the rear bumper and firewall outriggers and that takes 50 years of neglect to achieve there are plenty of sound well used 50s landies here alive and well the damn things are nearly indestructable given even basic maintenance and NO Landcruiser or Patrol will follow a Landy in severe off road conditions you only need a spare long axle and tools nothing else
Hear, hear!
I posted on Michael’s article as well, but being a mechanic at the local Austin/Rover/Leyland/NZMC dealer, Dad had a series 2a 90 as work vehicle for about a decade (late 70s-late 80s). Being their offroad breakdown vehicle it lived a hard life, and washing etc it was pointless. We used it to get firewood because it was tough as nails and would go anywhere without complaint. An awesome vehicle, and I’d have one anyday if I needed to go offroad.
Great info, Michael and Bryce. It is legends like these that keep the LR bug alive in me. However, the sorry condition of the Landies available here puts it off. I’m glad there are good ones available Down Under, but the ones here (mostly ex-Army) are in pretty bad state. Maybe the Army destroyed them.
My brother had a Landrover repair shop in Nth Queensland and used to wreck dead Landies and export the diesel engines to the US they are very sought after apparently. Very good vehicles those 110s easily as tough as the earlier series models but with better road manners and awesome off road ability
Being `as tough as a Series LR’ may not be a compliment! The newer Defenders are very much better than the old petrol-only series models, in every way.
Diesel engines were first available in the 50s series1
Thanks for the correction. It should now read: `The newer Defenders are better than the Series models in almost every way!’ Well, except for the classic looks of the Series models, which I really admire.
The new Defenders with the Transit diesel engine might be better but I would want one with a non-electronic diesel engine. Keep things simple – and more easily maintainable/repairable. One of our ex-Army ones with a 3.9L Isuzu diesel (non-turbo) would be ideal.
As I said in the other L-R post, I saw an excellent camper complete with pop-top years ago, I think the guy sold it not too long after to change to a Landcruiser 75 series troop carrier-based camper.
Most people fail to understand OFF ROAD they think off tar road not 1000km from any road at all axle deep in mud and maybe 5000kms from a dealer if it goes wrong my BOL had a wiring burn out in a rental Landcruiser at Kings canyon they sent a replacement and tow truck from Alice Springs but the dead one had to go to Adelaide over 2000kms away, yeah I like stuff I can diagnose and repair on the side of the road Id take a Aussie Army Landy ahead of virtually anything else
Pre-1990 Landcruisers are not bad either, I was talking to a guy last week who had driven his HJ62 from Melbourne to Cairns & beyond (roughly 4000 mile round trip), getting 25mpg on the highway.
I’d probably go for a GQ Patrol though, lots around still and they are better offroad than a L-R with better coil spring suspension travel.
We drove a 78′ Toyota Carona wagon 4,000 or so miles from the south end of USA to The Yukon in Canada with super glued in spark plugs. It survived a collision as well.
Just when I think you have no more surprises left…
I’ve thought about those rack tents a few times, then I had the dog weighed in at the vet..
Any thoughts on the ones that attach to the back of the rig?
The tents that attach to the back are OK- most people use them as an annex to the rear though if they have a sleeping roof tent up top. If you want a roof tent on the cheap, just get a full length metal roof rack, put down a piece of ply with anchor bolt hoops and then get a narrow 2 man dome tent- hook it to the loops where the stakes would go. The whole setup should cost under £100.
As to these things being tough, they certainly are. However, the series diesel was a real dog- it was the same engine as the petrol, and tended to snap its crank. Conversely, the petrol was amazingly over-engineered and under-stressed. 300K miles wasn’t uncommon, and for a 2.25 litre 4 banger, it was very smooth. I have the same engine in a Rover p4 with 189K and no evidence of a rebuild, yet it idles so smoothly you’d think the car stalled.
Rover never really got their diesels right until the 200 TDI. Prior to this, there was the 2.5 Diesel Turbo- basically a series engine with a turbo. I had one of these briefly and if you even slightly overfill the oil it will suck it up and runaway. Make sure you keep a CO2 fire extinguisher nearby if you have one of these.
Good stuff Brian!
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