What sort of Defender is this

[crbeasley01]

Found this for sale near me, listed as a 1994 110. Has the original 4 cylinder petrol engine apparently. Never seen one without a roof like this. Any information about this type of Defender? Not sure if I should look into buying it and its a legit thing that rolled out of the factory or a hacked apart Defender.

 

[miktdish]

Welcome to the group.
Are you looking to buy a Defender ?
Do you own one already ?

I presume your photo's (which are a bit small to see any detail TBH) are from a foreign land ?

 

[crbeasley01]

Welcome to the group.
Are you looking to buy a Defender ?
Do you own one already ?

I presume your photo's (which are a bit small to see any detail TBH) are from a foreign land ?

Hi there,

Thank's for your reply. I am currently looking to buy a Defender. This one just came up for sale near me in Abu Dhabi where I am currently stationed at. Planning to buy one while I am here and then bring it back home with me.Thought this one was an interesting spec as I have seen pickups, wagons, and the 2 door van styles ones but never one with no roof at all. Wasn't sure if it has been modified or if this was a Defender actually offered.

 

[Disco1BFG]

Welcome aboard

Found this for sale near me, listed as a 1994 110. Has the original 4 cylinder petrol engine apparently. Never seen one without a roof like this. Any information about this type of Defender? Not sure if I should look into buying it and its a legit thing that rolled out of the factory or a hacked apart Defender.

The 110 was available in all sorts of specs ... with roof, without roof - even without rear tub for coach builders etc.

It would be "normal" for this 110 to have a canvas "roof", on hoops, and the associated body fittings to support same .... are they present ?

As per post #2, those pictures are too low a resolution to be much use - BUT, that said, the second pic seems to show a vehicle which has had a heavy passenger side impact - the bumper centre line, axle centre line and the bonnet/wings are not lined up correctly - could be an artifact ( of the pic ) .... BUT I'd advise caution.

It also looks like it has been polished to within an inch of its life - which is sometimes used by car dealers to hide defects ....

We'd need to see much better pictures, and include some of the chassis too ...

Have a nosy on the tube for a channel called Britanic restorations - he has some excellent videos on what to look for in terms of buying one ....

 

[miktdish]

Defenders unbolt. That is an early 110 or possibly a 127 'series' landrover, likely a military version as it had a soft top (tilt) and still sports the military tow hook.
Just unbolt/remove the roof and thats what they look like.

The later Defenders, with the diesel engines' had different front doors where the handles stick out and the tops don't come off.
The 'air intake' is a modification and it's been resprayed.

 

[doriz]

…it is a thing of beauty, look awesome with a camel in the load area

 

[300bhp/ton]

Body is modular, so you can lift the roof off of any of them. Other than that, just looks like a regular 110.

 

[slomofo]

Looks like a ROW or MOD tart up job to me;

Rear Crossmember Grab Handles, Military Hitch, Old Style Steering Wheel and Doors, rogue bonnet, and far too shiny

Have a look here, it might point you in a direction to find out more about its origins….
https://www.roversnorth.com/identify-your-land-rover

 

[Rougharse Racing]

The military 110 soft tops had a roll bar behind the front seats. The seat belts attach to this at the top mount.
I wouldn't want to be driving a soft top Land Rover without some sort of roll over protection.

 

[Kimbo 110]

Looking at it from the front makes me feel 5 pints in !

 

[Hicap phill]

I would check the year of manufacture. That may be earlier than 1994.
Also the bonnet is not normal.

nice paint job though

 

[v8250]

Found this for sale near me, listed as a 1994 110. Has the original 4 cylinder petrol engine apparently. Never seen one without a roof like this. Any information about this type of Defender? Not sure if I should look into buying it and its a legit thing that rolled out of the factory or a hacked apart Defender.

@crbeasley01 , looking at this Defender I'd be walking away from this unless very cheap. Nothing on the front end is straight/level which strongly hints at a bent chassis and/or a beyond crap re-assembly. Add to this the bonnet, no roll over protection and shiny paintjob the alarm bells are ringing. There are plenty of properly straight Defenders out there to choose from.

eta - many an MOD Land Rover has led a hard working like, the majority were as hammered tools and often have skewed front ends from frequent heavy front end impacts. Look very closely for inner chassis creases just before the gearbox crossmember and no front end trapezoid chassis shape from bulkhead/outrigger area to front cross member. Same with lateral & diagonal measurements, they should be perfectly 'true' in all planes.

 

[crbeasley01]

Thanks for everyone's input! Did some deeper digging and turns out it had quite a complex history. Apparently was a government vehicle but certainly wasn't original in the slightest. Paint, aftermarket hood (that didn't fit right) and so on. Ended up walking away and still looking for one.

 

[v8250]

@crbeasley01 , as you're Stateside in Colorado have you thought of contacting Mike @ Britannica Restorations in Canada? He may know of a good straight and honest Land Rover for sale that could meet your spec'/budget https://www.youtube.com/c/BritannicaRestorations

Or keep an eye out on Bring-a-Trailer https://bringatrailer.com/land-rover/defender/