Land Rover 110 V8

Click Here for Full Screen Image - Click Here to Download Image

The rugged Land Rover Defender has served in all walks of life, from the school run to full battle-field conditions (we are told these can be much the same!).

Favoured by the emergency services for their go-anywhere abilities, Land Rover offered a multitude of options and modifications and would build you pretty well anything you wanted as long as your pockets were deep enough.

If the brilliant Land Rover had one achillies heal, it was lack of any real oomph. A deliberate choice by the company to ensure that their often abused transmission systems would remain reliable and operational in service, for most, the 2 ¼-litre petrol or diesel units simply meant the journey took a bit longer than it might.

For the emergency services however, this was simply not good enough and so Land Rover offered a special order V8 installation using their trusty Rover-supplied engine.

Fitted reliably to the Range Rover, the only downside was the fuel consumption, but if you needed to get to someone who was in trouble, half way up a mountain - quickly – it was the ideal solution.

The owner of this fine 110 V8 acquired it in 2011, at which point it did need a bit of TLC. Originally supplied to the Kirby Stephen Mountain Rescue service in 1986, it has still covered under 24,000 miles from new.

The new owner set about a renovation, which included work to the chassis – in the usual places. Bills on file show that a new rear cross member and outriggers were welded in place. The chassis was cleaned and treated, providing a solid base upon which to build.

He states that £thousands more have been spent on the renovation, which has included uprated springs, refurbished seats (frames and covers), the installation of rear seats and new floor coverings. It remains in highly original condition and has a current MOT which expires in August 2020.

The sale includes a host of extremely useful (and valuable) spare parts, including a set of County rear side windows, chequer plate for the wings, bonnet and doors, a rear door spare wheel mounting kit, heavy duty front winch bumper (£500 in the shops), spare grille and lights, useful service items and workshop manuals and five Land Rover alloy wheels. There is also a full rear seat belt kit.

Easy to own and fun to drive, this genuine factory-built V8 holds appeal to buyers both here and in the USA, where they can be road registered, unlike most of the newer Land Rover classic variants.