1997 Land Rover Defender 90 Wolf

The Kinlee Collection illustrates our vendor's lifelong devotion to improvement. Eclectic, yes, but each motor car represents an aspect of our vendor's personality. Having bought many cars from us over the years, we appreciate our vendor's loyalty in returning the nostalgic Escort RS16000 and much-improved E-Type back into our care for the next custodians. Before we come to the extraordinary Wolf Defenders, the unique restoration of the 110 Pick-Up started out as a wager between our vendor and his friend, who together have changed the skyline of a major city, and whether he'd recognise his old car once it had gone through our vendor's private workshop, he didn't!

Our vendor's appreciation of engineering started early, awarded Student of the Year five years running whilst ignoring the obvious distractions of 1970s college life. With success came fast cars and a classic Aston Martin or two, but one day, an interest for improving a certain type of Land Rover began and became a passion that has grown into a private workshop with skilled technicians who do take their time when restoring the cars and maintaining our vendor’s fleet of classic Astons, Jensens and more. Finally, when asked by this consignor of the significance of Kinlee, our vendor referred us to his favourite song by The Kinks: I’m Not Like Everybody Else.

The Wolf, based on the Defender 90 and 110 Defender, was introduced in 1994 but it took two years of testing, rejection, upgrading and further testing before the Ministry of Defence was satisfied. It was far stronger and more reliable than the standard car on which it was based as a result. An order for some 8,000 Wolf Defenders was placed in 1996 by the Ministry of Defence at a cost of some £40,000 each for the basic Wolf. Some 97 variants were produced and they included the Air Drop, Ambulance, Helicopter Support Platform, Tropical Field Ambulance, Waterised Weapons Mounted Installation Kit and Winterised/Waterproofed Field Ambulance.

The Wolf’s mechanical list is extensive but, in brief, it featured a 113bhp, 300TDi engine with no electronics except for the fuel pump solenoid, rust proofed chassis from new, gearbox cooling system, reinforced front bulkhead, rails and sills, reinforced Salisbury rear axle and standard reinforced front axle with uprated differentials. It's not known how many Ministry of Defence Wolf Defenders were scrapped due to combat damage, or quietly sold to foreign armies and NGOs, but most open-topped 'canvas tilt' Defenders rarely survived Army use, and Royal Navy cars suffered from their proximity to the sea. Far outnumbered in production by their hard-topped siblings, the canvas-backed Wolf rarely saw domestic service, as the hard top was better suited to the British weather and most were therefore in left-hand drive for overseas use.

This 90 Wolf was originally registered in 1997 to the Ministry of Defence on 30th October and was decommissioned in 2020. Affectionally known as the 'Cappuccino', it has undergone a full body-off restoration, with each panel painted separately before reassembly. The heavy-duty chassis has been cleaned and treated ready to meet any challenges put before it. The inspiration for this build was to make it cool and simple at the same time, retaining its muscular military heritage and take it back to its Land Rover roots for its new civilian life. All the cappings have been galvanised to compliment the cappuccino colour along with the white powder-coated roll-cage when the top is removed.

The dark chocolate leather interior by Exmoor Trim, Willis Systems load bay kit and the bespoke All Wheel Trim chocolate brown mohair soft top perfectly matches the white and cappuccino colour scheme. An LED upgrade light kit has been added to complete the look. Like all MoD Land Rovers, the odometer is in kilometres and the current reading is a shade under 104,000km or 64,622 miles. Our vendor has requested the Wolf’s history from the Ministry of Defence under the Freedom of Information Act and it should be available by the auction.

The Design philosophy for this build was to keep it simple, and so the pioneer kit was retained along with its original heavy duty Wolf wheels which were repainted and fitted with new Michelin XZL tyres. This Wolf is ready for its new lease of life and will come complete with its Military History.