Street Legal Diesel Defender in the States

I got bored and had a scroll through craigslist, holy **** what did I find.

1987 Land Rover DEFENDER 90

Apparently its got a 2.5 diesel, 5 speed manual, and its titled & inspected. I need to find out how they got it over here and street legal. I'd love to get a 110 over here across the pond.

Someone down the road from me in a ritzy area on the bay has a 110, but I've never seen on the road. I've been trying to figure out who owns its, as of yet I've been unsuccessful.

Oh Deer said:

I got bored and had a scroll through craigslist, holy **** what did I find.

1987 Land Rover DEFENDER 90

Apparently its got a 2.5 diesel, 5 speed manual, and its titled & inspected. I need to find out how they got it over here and street legal. I'd love to get a 110 over hear across the pond.

Someone down the road from me has a 110, but I've never seen on the road. I've been trying to figure out who owns its, as of yet I've been unsuccessful.

Click to expand...

Can you import land rover defender into the US

Start here but do a good search on google the answers are there. Some have been brought down from canada. but don't get caught it is a crushing experience

What part of it does america disprove of?

bencorkill said:

What part of it does america disprove of?

Click to expand...

Road safety they roll over to easy at the highway speeds. Nas had a roll bar/cage for the us market factory installed. They when new safety standards came in they needed air bags,,,,, that was when lr quit shipping defenders.

bencorkill said:

What part of it does america disprove of?

Click to expand...

It doesn't meet the DOT safety requirements. Then the regulations for small diesels here are stupid from what I understand.

...

I wonder how many Defenders were sold in Mexico? Bit suicidal going across the border, but its a lot closer than Canada.

So a v8 would be fine? But not a better on fuel 2.5tdi?

Looking on another site,

When you see a Defender on Ebay or on the internet with no roll cage or it is Ex-military, you can bet that it is illegal, most often it was brought into the united states by a foreign national and attached to their passport, these vehicles MUST Leave the United States each year and then be re-imported,

Click to expand...

Here is the answer to the "Can I import a...Defender?" question. - Land Rover Forums - Land Rover Enthusiast Forum

Going give that dealership a call Monday and find out just how legal that defender is.

bencorkill said:

So a v8 would be fine? But not a better on fuel 2.5tdi?

Click to expand...

My v8 disco is killing me on fuel, I don't want another brick shaped SUV with a gas engine.

I though fuel was cheaper in the us of a?

Deer: there are legal defenders in the US at silly prices lots of series just buy one that needs work and do a engine swap

Highway Speeds? 55 does not qualify as speed!

Ryder said:

Highway Speeds? 55 does not qualify as speed!

Click to expand...

That is old speed limit Texas has 70 mph,some 80 mph Most motor ways are 70mph posted and let you do 80mph, and will look at you when you reach 85mph

Speed Limit Hits 85 MPH on Texas Highway - WSJ.com
online.wsj.com/.../SB1000087239639044358930457763596221860...Sep 6, 2012 – Texas will soon have the nation's highest speed limit—85 miles per hour—on a stretch of road running between Austin and San Antonio.

Thor1950 said:

That is old speed limit Texas has 70 mph,some 80 mph and think one motor way has a 100mph Most motor ways are 70mph posted and let you do 80mph, and will look at you when you reach 85mph

Click to expand...

yeah... but you can't fall sideways when the freeway is a straight line!

Ryder said:

yeah... but you can't fall sideways when the freeway is a straight line!

Click to expand...

I don't make the laws

bencorkill said:

I though fuel was cheaper in the us of a?

Click to expand...

Its only ~2.17GPB($3.50USD) per gallon where I'm at, but when you've got a long ways to drive and a gallon only gets you 12 miles it gets expensive.

Thor1950 said:

Deer: there are legal defenders in the US at silly prices lots of series just buy one that needs work and do a engine swap

Click to expand...

I'm thinking about sticking RR classic or disco running gear underneath a Defender frame(LAND ROVER PARTS - CHASSIS DEFENDER 110 NAS GALVANIZED), ordering a body out of the UK, and trying to register it as a kit car.

Thor1950 said:

That is old speed limit Texas has 70 mph,some 80 mph Most motor ways are 70mph posted and let you do 80mph, and will look at you when you reach 85mph

Click to expand...

Pfft, speed limits, its not unusual to run 95 or more around here on some roads.

look at a Sahara.

Oh Deer said:

Its only ~2.17GPB($3.50USD) per gallon where I'm at, but when you've got a long ways to drive and a gallon only gets you 12 miles it gets expensive.



I'm thinking about sticking RR classic or disco running gear underneath a Defender frame(LAND ROVER PARTS - CHASSIS DEFENDER 110 NAS GALVANIZED), ordering a body out of the UK, and trying to register it as a kit car.

Click to expand...

s-10 and ranger parts or small blazer might fit, to defender frame with a little work.

if you convert gear box theres no issues with fitting rrc or dico running gear to def chassis

ooh nasty

The Mad Hat Man said:

Click to expand...

nothing showing