Built on the 12th of September 1993 in Solihull, England, as an export model destined for Land Rover Italia, this wonderful Land Rover Defender 90 is finished in the ever popular and iconic Eastnor Green, a colour that was discontinued in 1993 and so can only be found on Defenders up to the 200Tdi. It naturally is fitted with an Alpine White roof and matching steel wheels. It is believed that Defender, although originally intended for delivery to Italy, was instead sent to France as it was first registered on 28th December 1993 very shortly afterwards. The first French owner was to keep the Defender up until 2011, with a short second owner who would own it for just two years.
The previous owner had kept the Defender for 12 years covering some 22,000 kilometres and used it as his second car for weekends, living out of the weather in his workshop. Such was his care and attention for the Defender, he even had a little book where he wrote down any maintenance that he had carried out in his ownership. Sadly though due to his age, he was finding it increasingly difficult to drive the defender and had reluctantly put it up for sale.
We discovered this Defender on a trip to Northern France earlier this year and, as it only required a minor detour, speculatively went to go and see it. What we greeted by was a very pleasant surprise revealing an incredibly original, honest and well maintained Defender. Having covered just 62,500 miles from you over the previous 32 years, it is barely run in!
Mechanically the Defender is in fantastic condition, and in our short ownership it has received a full service including all the fluids and oils, including the engine, gearbox, transfer case, front and rear differential oils. The cambelt has also been replaced, a new water pump fitted and the cooling system flushed. It rides on its original narrow steel wheels in original factory painted condition, the four main wheels are fitted with a matching set of Michelin ZXL Tyres in the size 7.5R16. It has a great annual inspection history or Controle Technique back to 1998, which also shows its mileage accrue from 19,544km throughout its life until 100,647km in September 2024.
Such is the age now of 200Tdi Defenders, and the fact that they’re the first truly everyday usable Defender variant, that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find great low mileage and original vehicles. Finding this Defender was too good of an opportunity to turn down, and whilst we are planning to cosmetically restore the vehicle in early 2025 we also feel that it would be a fantastic original Defender for someone if they wanted to keep it as is.
