1990 Land Rover 110 V8 County Station Wagon

Production of the model now known as the Defender began in 1983 as the Land Rover 110 (reflecting the 110-inch wheelbase) and the Land Rover 90 and Land Rover 127 soon followed. Outwardly, there is little to distinguish the post-1983 vehicles from the Series III Land Rover and a full-length bonnet, revised grille, and wheel arch extensions to cover wider track axles are the most noticeable changes.

Whilst the engine and other body panels were carried over from the Series III, mechanically the 90 and 110 were modernised, including coil springs, a permanent four-wheel-drive system derived from the Range Rover, featuring a two-speed transfer gearbox with a lockable centre differential, a modernised interior, a taller one-piece windscreen, and a new series of progressively more powerful and modern engines.

This period saw the company market the utility Land Rover as a private recreational vehicle. While the basic pickup, 4x4, and van versions were still working vehicles, the County 4x4s were sold as multi-purpose family vehicles, featuring improved interior trim and more comfortable seats. This change was reflected in Land Rover offering detailed changes and improvements to the County model from year to year in order to attract new lifestyle buyers. These changes included different exterior styling graphics and colour schemes, and the introduction of new options, such as radio-cassette players, styled wheels, headlamp wash and wipe systems, as well as accessories such as surfboard carriers and bike racks. The switch from leaf spring to coil spring suspension was a key part of the new model's success, offering improved off-road ability, load capacity, handling, and ride comfort.

The 110 V8 County Station Wagon was perhaps the pinnacle of this evolution. It offered consumers a reliable, comfortable and stylish utility vehicle that could tow effortlessly and also carry up to 12 occupants. By 1990, the 3528cc Rover V8 petrol V8 was upgraded too, with power now increased to 134 bhp with the fitting of SU carburetors (replacing the Zenith models used on earlier V8s).

The car presented here is a 1990 Land Rover 110 V8 County Station Wagon. This exceptional vehicle is essentially original and unrestored, having covered just 15,020 miles with only two owners. This amazing machine was supplied new by Merlin Land Rover of Nottingham to the principal of Millhouse in Derbyshire, a Rover main dealer, and classic car collector. It was built to his order and he planned to use it to deliver customer's cars and to collect his own classic cars, towing a trailer he had built himself. However, he sadly passed away, and his widow then made the 110 something of a shrine to his memory, because he had loved it so much. She wasn"t keen on the mechanics using it in case they were too hard on it, so it stood around inside the workshop unused, but for periodic servicing, for most of its life. After just over 23 years of inactivity, it was bought by our vendor in 2013 after considerable persuasion and persistence. It's a one of a kind example, retaining all its factory-fitted mechanical components (except for the fitting of an upgraded horn and a Witter towbar), often with the factory stickers still attached!

In December 2015, this car featured in Land Rover Owner International magazine, appearing on its front cover, and with a 5-page story documenting its story. Journalist and Land Rover expert Mark Saville said of it ""This is the most amazing 25-year-old utility Land Rover I"ve been in. The dash is perfect, as opposed to the usual disheveled, cracked affair. The seats are pristine, not plucked and stained. It"s fantastic - like being in a cocoon that"s a quarter-century behind the world on the other side of the driver"s door. This Land Rover deserves to be preserved, not abused or modified.""

This special Land Rover may well have the lowest mileage and be the most original of any 110 V8 in the country and with the recent end of Land Rover production, finding truly original period examples like this will become the holy grail for collectors and enthusiasts. This is a rare opportunity to buy one of the best available.