Featured on AutoHunter, the online auction platform driven by ClassicCars.com, is this 1988 Land Rover Defender 110.
Coming soon to a street or trail near you, check out this go-anywhere SUV.
The Defender series of off-road sport-utility vehicles and pickups launched 40 years ago in 1983 in the United Kingdom. The Land Rover brand has since become known for its tagline “Above and Beyond.” Today’s Defender takes that motto to new heights with LED lighting, tubular side steps, Toyo all-terrain tires, and a refurbished interior. The vehicle is being offered for auction by a dealer in Los Angeles, California, and the listing ends this Friday.
Over the course of its lifetime, the Defender model went through relatively few exterior design changes: The rugged, boxy look remained as one of its characteristic traits (kind of like how the Jeep Wrangler evolved). In fact, the vehicle’s overall silhouette stuck around until as recently as 2016. At 35 years old, today’s Defender has a list of upgrades that set it up apart from the rest. Most notably, its curb appeal has been enhanced with a blue paint job, a Project Kahn body kit, and 18-inch gloss black wheels shod in Toyo tires.
One of the important distinctions for this era of Land Rover pertained to wheelbase length: The 110 (four-door) had a 110-inch wheelbase, and the 90 (two-door) had a 93-inch wheelbase. When both the 90 and the 110 were rolling off the U.K. assembly line in the 1980s, they offered equipment that had been vastly improved from prior versions of Land Rover sport-utility vehicles. Included on that list were coil springs, a permanent four-wheel-drive system, a one-piece windshield, and more powerful drivetrains.
Speaking of drivetrains, power for today’s 110 comes from a 2.5-liter inline-four mated to a five-speed manual transmission and a dual-range transfer case. The selling dealer says that recent mechanical work included replacement of the brakes.
This Defender 110 is particularly unique because it originated in a non-U.S. market. The CARFAX report begins in April 2023 in Tennessee. It would be fascinating to piece together the backstory on this one-of-a-kind build.
Worth noting: The selling dealer of this Defender is motivated, because they have now lowered the reserve from a prior AutoHunter auction listing. So, this is your second chance to drive home with a unique 110-series!
The auction for this 1988 Land Rover Defender 110 ends Friday, November 3, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. (PDT)
Visit the AutoHunter listing for more information and photo gallery
