Land Rover Monthly – October 2019

122 LANDROVERMONTHLY In association withDOUBLESEXHAUSTSLTD Tel:0188433454

WRITERS’ ROVERS

J

UST whenyou think thatyou

own as many Defenders asyou

could possiblyever need,

another onecomes along that is

simplytoo goodtomiss out on.

Notfor thefi rst time, this has happened

toyours truly.

I was mindingmyown businessin the

workshoprecently – putting thefi nishing

touchestoa clientre-chassis – whenmy

cousin Davidcalled infor a visit.There is

nothing unusual in this, as he visitsfairly

regularlytotalk LandRovers, among

other things. It crossed mymind that

David had appearedtocheck if therewas

any updateon when Iwould bestarting

his Defender 90 V8 50th Anniversary

rebuild – and perhapstoapply a little

subtle pressure. Heowns oneofthe

highlysought-after V8 automatics and

has booked it infor a new chassis, as the

original is not inwonderful shape.

No,mycousin had visitedfor a

catch-up andtoshow me his newtoy,

whichwas avery purposeful-looking,

specially-prepared V8off-roader.Wow,

the LandRover really looked the

business! “But why?” I asked, because

hisfi rst V8off-roader had just had a full

roll cageprofessionallyfi tted, aswell as

newtyres and under-body protection.

It turned out hefancied a change and

this one that he hadfound onlinereally

appealedtohim.

The obvious questionwas about what

was goingtohappentothe original

off-roader?Well, tokeep thestory brief,

what happenedtoit was that I bought

it!The pricewas right, because David

wanted aneasysale, without havingto

put up withtyre-kickers and time-wasters

• and,ofcourse, I simplycouldn’tresist.
  The mainattractionfor mewas the3.9
  V8Efiengine(with only 85k on it), the
  R380 manualgearbox, thefabulousroll
  cageand thegalvanised chassis.The
  bodywork is prettydarngoodtoo and no
  signsofdoor or bulkhead rust. Allatthe
  right price, from a man Ican fully trust.
  I dulygot the fundstogether and
  travelled the 20 milestoDavid’s place
  withmytrailer, on awet summer’s
  eveningtoload up the V8.The V8fi red

upeasily and runs oh-so-sweetly andwe

soon had hersecured to mytrailer. David

took the opportunitytosort out hisbarna

little with theextra space created andgot

busy loading the V8 50th ontohisown

trailer. I asked about where hewas taking

it to– had hefoundsomeone elsetofi t

the new chassis? No, hewas loading it

ontothe trailersothat itwas readytobe

deliveredtome. No pressure then – and

very subtly done, Ireckon.

Actually I amvery much looking

forwardtorebuilding the 50th Anniversary

Defender, as I havenever taken one apart

before.I just hopeeverything is ingood

shape underneath, when the body is

lifted off.

Now,what am Igoingtodo withmy

newly-acquired V8? I bought it with a plan

tore-join the Northern Ireland LandRover

Club (NILRC) – if they’ll haveme – and

perhapsTr istan and Icouldgoout and

havesome fun with it.

However, I’mpart-waythrough building

anotheroff-roader and timeconstraints

are acontinuing issueatmyworkshop,so

it’s not lookinggoodfor getting out in the

V8 anytimesoon.

I guessif it sits aroundtoo long, I’lltalk

myself intoselling her again but itwould

be a shame notto get thetyres dirtyfi rst.

When hiscousinoffers up

his specially-prepared V8

off-roa der Trevor can’t resist

TREVOR

CUTHBERT

CONTRIBUTOR

DEFENDER 90

3.9LV8EFiMANUAL

YEAR: 1994 MILEAGE:85,782

POWER:185 bhp

TORQUE:220 lb-ft

FUELCONSUMPTION:Unknown

Trailerat the

readyfor his

latest V8 toy

Toogoodto miss