Land Rover Defender 90 X-Tech

£34,995

This Land Rover Defender 90 is a rare Zambezi Silver X-Tech model powered by the revered TD5 engine. It’s been kept in the same family since new and has had approximately £50,000 spent on comfort, safety, security, aesthetic and performance upgrades in order to turn it into the ultimate usable Defender. It’s clear that this car has been cherished throughout its life and the expenditure has transformed it into simply the best Defender we’ve ever driven. The registration number in the photos is not included in the sale and the car has been returned to its original number ‘MT53 LYZ’.

The car was originally supplied by Rockside Land Rover in Bury, Lancashire and first registered as a demonstrator on 14th January 2004. The first private owner bought it later that year and owned it for a few years before selling it on to his cousin, ownership of the car then moved around his cousin’s family for the next 10 years before being bought back by the original owner in May 2017. It was at this point that he decided to build his ultimate Defender, with no expense spared and leaving no stone unturned in the process. The owner initially contacted both Twisted and Bowler to assist in his project, but after many hours of research, decided he could arrange for the same - and better - performance parts to be fitted himself while adding a raft of the OEM+ details that he loved about the last-of-line Defenders. As any Land Rover enthusiast will know, the noise, torque and character you get from a well-tuned TD5 is addictive, this couples perfectly with the new, strengthened short-shift gearbox and fully upgraded suspension that has transformed the handling. However, the performance is only one aspect of this car’s appeal, as it’s all the smaller details that make it truly unique. Countless hours of research have gone into ensuring only the highest quality and OEM parts were used on the car: from the Adventure Edition leather seats, custom-built roll cage and Alcantara headlining, down to the Lazer Lamp spotlights and Zunsport grille set. The full list of upgrades and parts can be found at the bottom of the description.

Even if you disregard the huge expenditure on upgrading the Defender, it’s clear that it has been cherished from day one. The MOT history attests to this, as the car has never had an advisory or fail for rust/corrosion, with the majority of MOTs being totally clean passes, something extremely rare on Defenders of any age. The service history is also fantastic with 13 stamps from Land Rover specialists meaning a totally full service book. Owing to a full respray in 2017 in its original colour of Zambezi Silver, the car presents very well today. The paintwork is totally scratch and dent-free with only a few signs of age (some minor aluminium oxidisation in a few areas) that you really have to look for to find. The glass, bumper, grilles and other accessories are also in excellent order with only minor stone chips visible. The interior is in near-perfect condition, looking almost unused since being fitted, the Adventure Edition seats are the classiest option for modern seats in the classic Defender and are very comfortable. The custom roll-cage (internal and external) is powder-coated grey and doesn’t detract from the interior space while adding serious reassurance should the worst happen (a quick Google search will confirm, you want a roll cage in one of these). The underside is in similarly smart condition, having been regularly protected with clear Waxoyl and Dinitrol from new. The only rust we have spotted is on the bottoms of the driver and passenger doors, however it isn’t showing through the paint on the outside. The especially susceptible rear cross-member has been replaced recently and the rest of the chassis looks very good indeed with no dodgy repairs or thick underseal. There are areas of surface corrosion on a few of the mechanical components, but nothing that would raise any concern.

As previously mentioned, driving this Defender is unlike any we’ve experienced before. We now know why the Land Rover circles love these late TD5 engines, this one has been tuned with durability in mind and is a fantastically responsive engine with huge character and performance. The entirety of the interior panels have been covered in Silent Coat sound deadening, as well as the bonnet, to make the car much more liveable at speed. The very rare air-conditioning option (recently serviced) also greatly helps with the day-to-day usability, along with the subtly fitted reversing camera (with screen in the rear-view mirror) and the fully upgraded sound system. The car is also fitted with the Twisted-spec ‘fast road’ suspension kit from Bilstein which means it now handles like a proper car, completely eradicating the skittish nature of standard Defenders.

As you can imagine, the history file is substantial: every invoice for the £50k+ parts and labour spent on this car is present, the original bookpack with fully stamped service book and even the original brochures. It would take a very long time to go through it all, so we have summarised it for you below.

Without spending double the asking price, we believe you’d be very hard pressed to find a Defender that has more thought and time put into its build than this one . It has the ultimate combination of TD5 power with late Defender details and serious handling kit, let alone the subtle, high quality details that put this car in several classes above the usual home-builds.