Used Car of the Day: 1984 Land Rover D90
When I was a wee lad, I loved the old Land Rover Defenders, though I didn't get as jazzed about them as I did, say, muscle cars. I wasn't walking around rattling off specs and stats like Timmy talking about the dinos in Jurassic Park, though I probably did that with some other cars.
Anyway, I perked up when I saw this one listed on our parent company's forum.
This particular model isn't close to stock, by the owner's admission, and the asking price is $41K. It's a manual that was imported 12 years ago from Northern Ireland. The owner has since dropped into a 300TDI engine and claims to have worked to make this Rover dependable. Of course, putting the word "dependable" directly after "Rover" probably made all of you snicker. I know I couldn't type it with a straight face.
Indeed, there are a few issues that need work, according to the owner, but most, aside from an oil leak, seem minor, and even the oil leak doesn't seem to a big deal -- yet.
The owner has a full list of what's been done -- it's a lot.
These little UCOTD features are not ads -- they're meant to spotlight some interesting, quirky cars just for fun. We don't even see a direct financial benefit, though our forums might get some clicks. That said, this particular post would sell me if I had the dough.
OK, no, that's a lie. It's not the post. It's the vehicle. Some loves die hard.
[Image: Seller]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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Apparently no working A/C and an oil leak that needs to be addressed a$ap as it's likely/soon to get to the timing belt and ruin that fancy head that adds 10hp, if not more.
I still love it, but would love it more if it had an older type Toyota gas truck V6/8 swap tho that may not have been feasible. And depending on the owner's alleged boat, this rig may show up on eBay with a substantial price reduction in a year or so after being stored allowing the more of the seals and gaskets relax a bit.
1 Love Defenders. 110
2 Right hand drive - NO.
3 Prices are nuts.
4 Ever notice the 3-4 commercials on TV that use Defenders? A car that sold in tiny numbers 20 years ago.