|
Chassis # PA922195
2/2012 Year: 1993 Model: 110" NAS Defender Station Wagon, #20 of 25 (Canada). Engine: 4.6L Rover V8 by WCBR Owner: Todd & Lorie In 1993 LRNA in their funny version of wisdom thought they'd import the Defender 110 V8 to North America. A Long-wheelbase LR hadn't graced our shores since the late 60's, so the time was ripe. Sadly those in charge in Lanham, Maryland couldn't see the light of day. What they wanted was a "nitch vehicle" and thus imported the Defender 110 with it's Camel Trophy type rollcage. Only 500 units were shipped to the USA and a mere 25 to Canada. In reality it was total madness, as Solihull was willing and wanting to send everything in the 110" line-up, which would have meant Hardtops, Pickups, HCPC, Crew-cabs, Station Wagons, etc. We could have had a quite an assortment of vehicles had LRNA staffers only listened.... Made me cringe! As said to Solihull in the mid 1960's from a Rover Motor Company NA sales dept staffer; "The time frame to put it all together is too slow, and the price you're thinking of is already too high". The same happened with the NAS 110 with a price tag of $39,995.00 and only 525 were imported. It turned out to be a missed opportunity for all involved, this being the buyer, the dealers, LRNA and Solihull. The ONE-TEN, as it was first known, is a great vehicle, but it had its issues, these being: Under powered as usual, ate fuel, handling at speed wasn't nice, and even worse at speed on a mountain road, yet LRNA nor Solihull was willing to accept these facts or do anything about them, despite customer complaints. We at WCB have addressed all these issues since 1993, this featured 110 is one in which we used as a test bed. Power, torque and drivability was improved by fitting a WCB modified 4.6L Rover V8, suspension was modified and up-rated to suit all around driving, be it on or off-road. This 110 will now cruise the Interstates very easily and comfortably at 75+ mph, AND... fuel mileage is now far more acceptable. On the extreme end, we had our hand in modifying the late Doug Walkers D110 by supplying a 5.0L TVR/Rover V8... which could pull fully loaded 110 (enroute to NVTR one year from Los Angeles) at nearly 110 mph! There is no longer 525 of these
vehicles on the road, a number have been wrecked, some burned to the ground
(when old oil cooler hoses burst and then ignited the oil or p/s fluid), and
those that are left are now getting a bit long in the tooth, as they say in
England, being nearing 20 years old. Here at WCB we've modified a number of
them to suit owners needs, and now even more are in need of a total
restoration, thus giving them a new lease on life. If you'd like your 110
restored to "better than new" condition... contact us with your needs. As
visiting LRUK engineers once said, "You build better Land Rovers than we
do!"
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
