2007 Land Rover Defender 110

…Benefitting from the penultimate raft of upgrades Land Rover threw at the Defender from the middle of 2007, this Belgian-based, left-hand drive Defender began its life substantially more civilised than its predecessors. It’s powered by the 122bhp Ford Puma ‘DuraTorq’ 2.4-litre engine that’s fed boost by a Garrett variable-vane turbo. That means you get an extremely useful 265lb-ft at just 2000rpm to feed to all four wheels via a manual six-speed transmission. What that boils down to is an under-stressed drivetrain that’s also pretty frugal and easy to live with.

According to its vendor, this Land Rover was originally purchased by the French government to be used as an occasional forestry maintenance vehicle. Despite its limited working life, the vendor decided it was the ideal candidate for a full restoration. Beyond this, the vehicle has been enhanced with greater rust protection, including an inner-chassis treatment and a considerable upgrade in cabin comfort.

The vendor lists the work completed as follows; “It’s undergone a full body-off restoration. The chassis was sandblasted, painted and anti-rust treated inside. The suspension parts have been re-treated, making them more durable than the originals. The Libyan Sand paintwork is completely new and in a Heritage style. The comfort of the interior has been significantly increased with Nappa leather finishes and an Alcantara leather headlining. Soundproofing was also added under the Boucle luxury carpets.” It’s far from your standard working Landie in other words.

It’s surprising how much of a difference those bare alloy bumpers make to a late Defender. Together with a ‘classic’ shade of exterior paint, they really wind the clock back. This certainly doesn’t look like a modern Land Rover, and we’d say that it’s all the better for it. The ‘Heritage’ homage continues with the classic era grille badge and steel wheels – the latter painted in body colour and fitted with brilliant, barely used (though 2016-dated) Michelin Latitude Cross tyres. As it’s just been painted, it comes as no surprise that the finish is highly reflective and even. The only patch of paint we spotted that was less than perfect, appeared to be a thin coating on the walls of the recessed fuel filler panel.

As a 110, this Land Rover is the longer wheelbase of the commonly available 90, 110 derivatives (there was also a special order 130). That means there’s room for a family of at least four plus plenty of room for luggage – or logs, livestock, whatever you could imagine – in the back. The top, with a pair of windows, has been painted in a contrasting yet pleasant classic-aping cream colour. Essentially, the outside of this Land Rover appears as new, which is hardly surprising considering the depth of recent work that’s gone into its restoration.

As a starting point for making a more comfortable and useable Land Rover, these late Defenders are a long way ahead of their classic brethren. They might not look too different on the outside, but later Landies got a lot more civilised on the inside. The seats were more than just simple blocks of foam on bare metal and the dashboard had dials that didn’t look like they’d come out of a second world war fighter aircraft (that last point might be a move in the wrong direction for some). The modern world took a long time to encroach on Land Rover, but eventually, even this most utilitarian of vehicles had to bow to customer pressure. This Land Rover therefore represents the next logical step…

Assume for a moment that the Defender had gone on unchanged into the 2020s, this might be one vision of that parallel future – one that won’t involve you giving Ineos at least £50k for a Grenadier at least. The comfort level is in sharp contrast to even the plushest of factory Land Rovers. Of course, there are a wide range of modified aftermarket Landies out there, but these either take things too far, or cost a fortune for very little actual improvement. This 110 feels like just the right balance.

The carpets (extending to the rear load area) are made from a hard-wearing yet attractive loop pile wool – backed by sound deadening that was sorely lacking from the factory. The seats, door cards and centre armrest have all been trimmed in supple Nappa leather and look and feel premium however, we did notice the odd wave in the stitching of the latter (most apparent on the driver’s side rear). There’s also a small fitment crease in the carpet, just in front of the differential lock shifter, but both of these quibbles are minor. Generally, this cabin is a big step up over a stock Land Rover offering.

It’s often claimed that a vehicle has been taken back to a bare chassis and rebuilt, but in this instance, that claim is backed up with proof. We can see from the body-off image that the vendor appears to have taken this rebuild to the nth degree. If any doubt remained, a scoot underneath this Landie proves just how comprehensive its rebuild appears to be. After its internal rust proofing (according to the vendor) the chassis was given an equally professional coating of paint as those panels up top. Its grey in this instance in order to differentiate it from the axles and other major components, all of which are coated in black.

There are new parts wherever you look and freshly painted and coated metal surfaces where we’d normally expect to find dirty or rusty parts. It appears to be exceptionally clean under this machine, which may or may not tally with your views of a Land Rover’s intended purpose. Whatever you think, we’re pretty confident you’ll be pleased to hear that this example is unlikely to suffer from the usual Land Rover corrosion issues anytime soon.

There’s no history with this Land Rover but we feel that its condition speaks for itself.

History is largely irrelevant anyway on a machine this new, especially one that’s had such a recent and seemingly comprehensive rebuild. The level of craftsmanship involved in this Landie’s resurrection appears to be top-notch and with all of the surfaces free of any wax coating, there’s nowhere for any bodges to hide even if there were any.

If you’re not a fan of the new shape Land Rover Defender and want a version of its predecessor that’s both modern and comfortable enough to use regularly, with just a hint of classic style, then this might just be the right Landie for you. We’re confident that this appeal is pretty broad and with the level of work on display, we feel that this reborn Land Rover demands an estimate of between €40,000 - €50,000.

Inspection is always encouraged, with this particular car located in Ieper. To arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.