Face Off: 1989 vs 1988 Land Rover Defender 110
Today’s first feature comes as a seller submission from Matthew at Righteous Trading Company out of Colorado who sent us a few tasty Land Rovers to post. I couldn’t decide which one to feature first, so we are going to play a little game of pick the better beast of burden. You get to choose between a 1989 Land Rover Defender 110 5-door named Charles and a 1988 Land Rover Defender 110 5-door named Elizabeth.
First up is Charles, a 1989 Land Rover Defender 110 5-door offered for $33,500 outside of Denver, CO equipped with a Rover 3.5 liter V8 that was recently imported from South Africa. Charles has 131,000 miles on the odometer, a manual gearbox, and was used for numerous safaris in a place called Morgan Bay — but would probably fit right in at the drop off zone for some high-end prep school in Manhattan. Forget overpaying for something like a Mercedes G-Wagen, get the real deal!
Elizabeth is a 1988 Land Rover Defender 110 5-door offered for $29,500 outside Denver, CO equipped with a similar Rover 3.5 liter V8 and 5-speed manual gearbox. Miles are slightly higher at 141,000, but nothing to worry about on the great scheme of things.
Got your own cars to sell? Send em here: tips@dailyturismo.com
Never driven a RHD. Anyone have any experience driving a RHD on a US road? Is it a deal-breaker?
At Jack-in-the-Box you have to go backwards through the drive-through.
Ah, I never took the Jag through a drive-thru alone, so I guess I didn't think of that! That could indeed be a deal-breaker.
Yes, I owned a RHD Jaguar Mark 2 for many years. It was not a big deal. You learn to position differently in the driving lane when you planning an overtaking maneuver. You get some weird looks at traffic lights if you are driving alone (other folks thing there is no one driving). With a manual gearbox, if you go back and forth between LHD and RHD, you might find yourself trying to change gear with the window winder once in a while.
The biggest issue I've always had switching back and forth is looking up to the LEFT for the rear-view mirror.
Same thing happens if you drive a forklift all day. You get the car into reverse just fine, but then you try to shift into first with the turn signal wand.
Thanks, yall. When I was in England a few months ago I was startled when cars drove by. I was thinking, "damn, the driver of that car needs to pay attention to the road. Oh, that's not the driver"
If you're going to go down the route of 25y imported Land Rovers, it may make sense to look at Spanish ones. There was a factory there in the 70s/80s that assembled them locally. Benefits include LHD and a generally dry climate.