This Land Rover

Built on the 13th October 1994 in Solihull, England as an export model, destined for Land Rover France. Finished in Coniston Green, this stunning Defender has covered just 61,500 km or just under 38,500 miles from new. Registered on 15th March 1995, giving it a 1995MY, it would stay with its first registered owner, and possibly the supplying dealer, until December of 1995 before passing to M. Robert Coquand who would keep the vehicle for over 26 years in the South East of France until 2021. He used the vehicle little but often, accumulating just under 55,000km or 35,000 miles over the 26 years. He was according to the seller we bought the vehicle off, to be the most fastidious owner, and judging by the most recent service records, in which he serviced it no less than four times in the last five years of his ownership, whilst covering just 7,000km! It then passed to a large collector of vintage motorcycles and the Defender saw occasional use during his four years of ownership, alongside his early Land Rover 90 and Toyota Land Crusier…

Optioned as a more basic specification Defender, (and in our opinion the way they should all have been built), that is to say with rubber mats in the interior instead of carpets, without a sunroof. It came with White Rostyle steel wheels and a matching White Roof. It remains a 6-point matching numbers vehicle, that’s to say that the Chassis, Engine, Gearbox, Transfer Case, Front & Rear Axle are as it left the factory, and is a true collector-grade quality Defender. The body work is in wonderful condition with the majority of the paintwork original from when it left the factory.

The interior of the vehicle is much like you would expect. There is minimal wear inside, with the only signs of any real use being on the original Land Rover floor mats and some gentle wear on the steering wheel. One of the very best things about these early 300Tdi’s was the option of Moorland Cloth. It’s a wonderfully distinctive fabric that is durable and hard-wearing, but with a very classic 80’s/90’s character to it. The front seats are in very good condition with the original dated seat frames, foams and seat covers. Whilst it originally had three front seats, we have fitted a centre cubby box in place of the middle seat, and had the lid retrimmed in matching Moorland Cloth from our precious supply of the original material. The middle seat is effectively useless for anything other than very very short journeys, and the cubby box provides useful front storage with a pair of cup holders.. (We do still have the removed middle seat and seatbelts, and this could be re-installed if desired). The rear of the Defender actually never had bench sets fitted and the Defender remained as a three seater for its whole life. We’ve elected to have a pair of matching Moorland Cloth benches fitted in the back over the top of the iconic Land Rover ribbed rubber mat. To achieve this we’ve fitted a pair of very very good condition bench cushions over a pair of new frames. Thankfully the Defender clearly never saw any hard use, and with the back of the Defender lined and carpeted, the tub is in incredibly good condition. Before fitting the mat and bench seats, the inside of the tub was discreetly sound deadened to remove the typical Defender resonance from the large flat panels. 

Like any Defender of this age, the headlining was in need of replacing. Whilst the condition of the material was very good, the foam backing material breaks down over time, and the only way to properly rectify it, is to replace it. As with all our vehicles, we use a synthetic suede material in the same light grey colour as the original headlining which matches the sunvisors. It gives a much plusher feel to the interior whilst keeping it light and airy inside. With the interior stripped we also elected to sound deaden the roof, and this is then topped with a closed cell foam to help both dampen and quieten the interior. Behind the front seats, the original jack and toolkit are still present in their original bags, and have both seen minimal, if any use at all. In fact, the vehicle came to us still fitted with an original (date coded 1994) Michelin tyre mounted to the factory spare wheel which looks to have seen minimal, if any use!

Mechanically the Defender is in superb condition as one might expect with this mileage. This is one of the very few collector-grade Defenders I’ve owned that was still fitted with its original brake pads and with plenty of wear left! Whilst some may have left them, but because we like to do things properly and in an effort to minimise future maintenance, we’ve fitted new brake pads and discs all round, using only AP Lockheed/Delphi parts - the original OEM supplier. 

When we went to service the wheel bearings and replace the hub seals, we realised they had never been undone and removed since they left the factory over 30 years ago! The bearings were immaculate and still very well greased, the swivels were still filled with oil and all the seals were still subtle and functioning perfectly! Naturally we’ve replaced the swivel oil seals and changed the oil. It’s worth noting that we’ve refilled the swivels with oil, rather than grease. The oil provides much better lubrication, and on these earlier vehicles with drain, level and filler plugs, servicing them in the future is very easy!

The 300Tdi engine is wonderful with plenty of power, and with this mileage is quite literally barely run in! Being an early production 300Tdi it’s fitted with an 16L engine, that’s devoid of the EGR emissions equipment and is accepted to be the simplest (and best in my opinion) variant. The R380 gearbox is very tight and accurate, and an absolute joy to use as they tend with limited use! We’ve covered around 250 miles since we purchased the vehicle and it’s very hard to replicate the feel of these low mileage vehicles where everything feels tight and direct! Under the bonnet, the engine presents very well with the original plated and factory finishes still intact, and it has all the original stickers still visible.  

The Defender sits on a set of Wolf Wheels colour-coded to match the White roof. A set of Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac RT tyres have been fitted in the size 235/85R16. A new tyre to us and a replacement for the Wrangler MT/R that we loved, but one that Land Rover themselves have opted for as the rugged tyre option on the new Defender Octa. A set of Stainless Steel wheel nuts are fitted. Due to a slight miscommunication with our paintshop, the first set of Wolf Wheels were inadvertently painted Coniston Green to match the bodywork as this is what we usually do with all our Defender!  If you wish to have Coniston Green Wolf Wheels instead, we can happily switch them over for you. 

The Defender was undersealed at some point early in its life, which has kept the chassis and underbody in wonderful condition with the vast majority of the factory chassis paint in perfect order.. You can even still see the remains of the factory chassis sticker from the manufacturer GKN! We have had chassis and drivetrain dry ice blasted to remove the remnants of the underseal. For those that don’t know, dry ice blasting is one of the most extravagant and appropriate processes for the chassis of vehicles. It involves shooting granules of frozen carbon dioxide to remove dirt and coatings. The force of the pellets and the cold shock of being at -80°C carefully removes the underseal and importantly does so without using water or chemicals!

Since entering our ownership, the Defender has been driven some 300 miles and needless to say drives beautifully. It has been completely serviced with all fluids changed including the engine oil, gearbox oil, transfer box oil, front and rear differential oils, as well as the brake fluid, clutch fluid and coolant. The cambelt and water pump have also been replaced.