1958 Land Rover Series1

Description for Land Rover Defender 1958

Up for auction is my 1958 Land Rover Series I. I imported it from Costa Rica as they are extremely rare in the U.S. (I even left the CR custom electric oscillating fan mounted on the dash). 1958 was the last year for the Series I cars, nd is the second year of the 88's, hich is the length in inches of the wheelbase that existed for 25 years. This particular car had 3 owners car and was very well maintained after and garage kept most of its life from what I am told. I had all of the fluids changed & service done in CR before it left. It had 67,000 original KM on it when it arrived and I put a new water pump and fan belt on it, hen drove it 150 miles from NJ to Eastern LI for its first drive in the U.S. While it is not an ideal highway machine, t drove flawlessly the entire way. Considering it only has a 2.0L I4 putting out <60hp and has a top speed that varies from 54 to 67mph depending on whether you're going uphill or down. I was far more impressed with how it handled off-road when I took it on the beach for the photos I took. It has locking hubs for 4WD, nd a low range where 3rd gear seemed to be a good one for driving on the sand. No need to bother deflating the tires, his Series I is a truly capable off-road machine. While the tires are good with plenty of tread would not be my first choice, ut easily got the job done, ven in the soft stuff going uphill.
This car is not restored, ut is an honest example that runs flawlessly. It fires the first time on a 1/2 crank with the starter. The paint is good, here is some chipping the rear tub, ome cracking around the side mirrors on the front fenders. There is a little bubbling on the bottom of the doors, chose leave it as is to keep its patina. It even comes with the original owners manuals, ut unless you read in Spanish, ou won't get too much out of them.
The bulkhead is solid and the chassis is in very good shape as well. It turns lots of heads wherever it goes.
The import process is tedious and stressful, ut having done this once before, worked out all the kinks in the process vehicles. This car is now fully U.S. legal and currently registered in NY.
Good luck bidding. You will love this truck!! On Dec-02-15 at 13:49:18 PST, eller added the following information:

One correction to the listing, eing a crossover year from Series1 -> Series2, his truck was equipped with the better, ore serviceable 2.25l motor making ~70hp