Highlights

Well-specced limited edition model, no. 40 of 385.
In mostly original condition
Refurbished wheels and new tyres

The Appeal

No doubt inspired by the Willy’s Jeep, Rover Car Company’s chief designer Maurice Wilks came up with the concept of a light agricultural and utility vehicle; the Land Rover was conceived in 1947 and launched at the Amsterdam Motor Show in 1948.

The success of the vehicle, originally intended as a stop-gap, took Rover by surprise. Within a few years, it had become the vehicle of choice for the British Army and foreign aid organisations, and the must-have item for farmers and the landed gentry. Before long, the Land Rover had conquered the world.

A model initially introduced as the Land Rover 110 in 1983, followed in 1984 by the 90, the Defender name first appeared in 1990 and continued until the last one rolled off the production line in 2016 – some 68 years after the vehicle’s first incarnation.

To commemorate Land Rover’s 50th anniversary, the company produced a limited-edition model to NAS (North American Specification), complete with 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine and four-speed ZF automatic gearbox. Just 1071 were made and only 385 were sold in the UK. This example is number 40 of that UK allocation, and, unlike many of its contemporaries, remains unmolested and largely original.

The History and Paperwork

MoT until December 2023
Current V5
Special Edition plaques on rear and centre-console
Lots of previous MoT certificates
Thick folder of invoices from throughout the car’s lifetime
Two sets of keys

The vendor bought the car in 2013and has covered only around 14000 miles in it. The car has always been garaged and regularly serviced in his tenure, and work has been carried out by acknowledged specialists.

The vendor is a Land Rover enthusiast, has recently bought another Defender that he intends to use as a daily driver, and he feels that this anniversary edition car is too special to be used in this way.

The car comes with a sizeable folder of paperwork, including invoices and virtually every MoT certificate from through the car’s lifetime.

The car has commemorative 50th anniversary plaques both on the rear and on the centre console, and comes with two sets of keys.

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The Interior

Unmolested interior
Four rear seats
Factory-option electric windows
Heated windscreen
Air-conditioning
Seats in excellent condition
50th Anniversary plaque on centre-console
Leather-trimmed steering wheel
Sunroof
Excellent roof lining
Door cards clean and tidy
Pioneer stereo with detachable front and case
Original locking wheel-nut

Open the doors, and it’s clear that the car’s interior is in remarkably good condition for its age and mileage. It’s a bit grubby in places, as is to be expected with an off-road vehicle, but everything except the stereo is original. The dials, dashboard and centre-console all look good, and there’s a storage box in the centre, the lid of which flips up to reveal a couple of neat cup-holders. The door cards, on all three doors, are clean and undamaged.

The footwells both have protective rubber mats, presumably original, and beneath these the carpets are in very good condition and would clean up nicely.

Both front seats have a few marks but no rips or tears, while all four seats in the rear are in very good condition. All four rear-seat bases clip up out of the way, to create a more usable load area.

The rear floor is protected by a branded rubber mat, again in very good condition, while the roof lining is clean, again with no damage.

Under the passenger seat is a storage locker, which also houses the battery, and the original bottle jack is present, with its handle secured in the rear load area.

Everything appears to work as it should, although the vendor suggests that the air-conditioning might need to be re-gassed before the summer months.

The Exterior

Original Atlantis Blue paintwork
Chequer-plate metal panels
Refurbished wheels, including spare
New Goodrich all-terrain tyres all round
Exterior/interior Safety Devices roll-cage
Commemorative plaque on rear
Standard tow-bar with 7-pin electrics
SS front A-bar with twin Wipac 7" spotlamps
Rear-wheel ‘swing-away’ carrier.

All of the 50th anniversary edition Defenders were finished in smart Atlantis Blue paintwork, and the exterior of this example has held up remarkably well. There’s a minor dent by the fuel filler, and some corrosion is starting to become evident around the filler cap and around the LPG filler.

The chequer-plate panels on both front wings, and on the sills, are in great condition.

All five wheels have recently been restored to factory condition by Guildford specialist ‘My Alloys’, who also fitted original-spec Bridgestone all-terrain tyres all round. The cost of this was more than £2000 and the invoice is in the folder of paperwork.

The lights are all unmarked, and there’s the added bonus of those powerful spotlights on the front A-bar. There are stainless-steel side steps on both sides, and a commemorative plaque on the rear which has some patina but is in good condition.

The Mechanics

4.0-litre V8 engine
4-speed ZF auto gearbox
Partial LPG conversion
Radiator recently re-cored
Starts and runs beautifully
Modified exhaust

For the 50th anniversary edition Defender, Land Rover borrowed both the 4-litre V8 petrol engine and the ZF auto ‘box from its Range Rover cousin, aiming it squarely at the luxury, lifestyle market rather than at the Defender’s usual customer base.

When purchased by the vendor, the car had an LPG conversion (dual-fuel) with a large LPG tank fitted inside the rear of the vehicle. This was removed by Land Rover and LPG guru, Derek Allfrey in West Sussex, who installed a smaller LPG tank in place of the original plastic petrol tank and added a conventional ‘standard’ Defender petrol tank beneath the driver’s seat.

This makes for an invisible conversion and does not affect ground clearance but, according to the vendor, adds around 70-100 miles to the range at about 60% of the cost of petrol. The exhaust was modified by a specialist in Basingstoke to remove the centre box and a new ‘Double-S’ rear box fitted giving the car, the vendor says, ‘a lovely note’. The vendor also has an SS centre box which will come with the car.

Aside from these modifications, the car is in largely original spec and the vendor assures us that it is mechanically sound and drives and handles beautifully. Although he has not driven many miles in it, the vendor has been diligent about regular servicing and replacing fluids frequently.

The radiator was recently re-cored, and all related hoses replaced.

Open the bonnet and everything looks to be in good order, with only a bright blue hose to detract from the original appearance – the part being no longer available in black. Underneath the car, there are no leaks visible and only the sort of surface rust one would expect of an off-road vehicle f this age.

Summary

The 50th Anniversary edition of the Land Rover Defender is now a rare and sought-after vehicle, well-known and coveted in the thriving Land Rover scene. 25 years on from the model’s debut, examples as good and as original as this one are few and far between; it’s clearly been cherished by not only the vendor but by successive previous owners.

It’s a cut above the standard Defender, in terms of both its performance and its features, and it’s part of the history of an iconic British motoring brand. This is a rare opportunity to buy that piece of history.

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