Plywood lining on Defender County rear side panels

I took the plastic liners off both rear side panels on my 2003 Defender 90 County to find the remains of plywood. Anyone know if this is original ply which has been (partially) removed? Or has it been added by a previous owner and then (almost) removed? Thanks.

I had a 1986 CSW and it didn’t have plywood lining under the interior trim. I’d suggest that has been added, maybe in an attempt at sound deadening or similar.

is it a converted hardtop with windows and seats added later? This might explain it. A commercial vehicle converted to station wagon where the previous owner has not removed it poor.y.

Knappster said:

I had a 1986 CSW and it didn’t have plywood lining under the interior trim. I’d suggest that has been added, maybe in an attempt at sound deadening or similar.

is it a converted hardtop with windows and seats added later? This might explain it. A commercial vehicle converted to station wagon where the previous owner has not removed it poor.y.

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As far as I know it is original. There were a loads of changes in 2002 so it maybe one of those... I don't really mind about a bit of extra noise, so I'll just put the trim back and get on with something useful, i.e. something that will keep it running and stop it rusting

Also... I call my Defender a County, as this is what I was told by the seller. I also call it a 90 but I'm not sure if is just used for a specific model or is an alternative to SWB. Knappster refers to CSW which could be a version of County Short Wheelbase. I have also seen references to a Station Wagon which is different from a County. I suspect the Station Wagon and County both have seats in the back, but the County has more soft furnishings for city folk, while the Station Wagon is for taking lowly beaters off across the grouse moors. Confused? Yes, but not overly concerned. But I am going to start a new thread on the topic just in case it matters...

As far as I am aware the County had individual rear side folding seats and the SW had rear side bench seats, probably other spec aswell.
My 2002 has no plywood and besides why would you put ply on a vehicle with side windows?

You can have a County spec van, but with no rear seats.
CSW is County Station Wagon.
SW IS Station Wagon, base spec like mine, nothing to do with vehicle length.
Pretty sure your vin number will tell.

The VIN number will let you know if it was a station wagon, county station wagon (better trim levels), hardtop or truck cab from new. It is quite possible that it was a hardtop when new and converted to a station wagon with windows and CSW trim added. My money is on a hardtop converted to station wagon where the person converting hasn’t removed ply lining, added when purchased.

Thanks for all your input.

Vindecoderz.com reports:
Brand LAND ROVER
Name Defender 1987-2006
ExteriorPaint Caledonian Blue Solid (507)
InteriorFabric Cloth upholstery
Engine Td5 2.5L I5
WheelBase 90"
CabStyle Regular
Drive RHD
Transmission Manual

So still not sure if it was originally a County, maybe the top has been replaced with a County top with Alpines. The rear seats certainly look like a DIY fitted job...

I'll just put the trim back and forget about the ply until I uncover it next time.

The 7th digit should tell you what body style you have, hardtop or SW.
Having Alpine windows doesn't make it a County, mine has them and its not a county.

Thanks Anaconda, it's A=Basic, soft top, pick up, hard top. I assume Basic refers to the cab which I think is common to all Defenders, and the options refer to the rear section which means mine could have been a soft top or pick up with a County top added later...

But at least it's not a 1970's Cortina which if memory serves could be supplied with so many options and varieties no one ever managed to work out how many combinations there were, but it was in the millions... not that they actually made all them all - but I digress.

Probably a hard top then which has been converted, many have been. Doesn't matter really,

Might be worth discussing it with the seller if it was a business and was sold as a genuine county.

Knappster said:

Might be worth discussing it with the seller if it was a business and was sold as a genuine county.

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It was a private sale and as Anaconda says above, It really doesn't matter. But sometimes asking one question on a well informed forum like this ends up with useful answers to questions which were no asked

Ok. Thought it worth asking.

Of course you might need to inform your insurance of the non standard seating arrangement if they have it listed as a van.......maybe.