Can an SUV with just 23 horsepower per tire be cool? Absolutely it can. Make your G-Wagen-driving neighbors jealous with this six-wheel Land Rover Defender that’s up for sale in Michigan.
Workhorse Defenders Get 6 Wheels
The Land Rover Defender is most often looked at as a premium off-roader here in North America. Back home in Blighty, and other wrong-side English-speaking countries like Australia, it was a different story. There, the Defender was a workhorse, used by the armed forces as well as emergency services, and by a load of businesses that needed its particular set of skills.
Many of those commercial customers needed more capability than what a standard Land Rover could offer. To meet those needs, a cottage industry popped up, adding new bodies and, like this example, more axles. The extra bits let the Defender tow or haul more cargo with more stability on the road.
Because they were usually used by businesses, not many of these conversions are around anymore. Those that are tend to be used up. But not this one, which looks to be in good shape, has reasonable mileage, and — best of all — has already been imported here.
According to the listing, the conversion was done by Reynolds Boughton. The UK-based company started in 1897 building vehicles for agriculture and waste management. Later, it moved on to commercial AWD conversions for the British Army. Today, Boughton builds garbage trucks, but in the 1990s it made triple-axle Land Rovers for airport rescue, the military, and, well, for anyone who wanted something extra cool.
1992 Land Rover Defender 6×6
This 1992 6×6 Defender left Reynolds Boughton with a massively long bed, that third axle, and 6×6 drive. But despite the extra rotating (and regular) mass, it still has a 3.5L Rover V8.
The underwhelming V8 does its best to produce 136 horsepower and 186 pound-feet of torque. A five-speed manual sends that power to the wheels and this Landie’s interesting drive system.
Per the listing, Boughton’s conversion powers the front and center (front rear?) axles all of the time. The third axle is engaged via a pass-through from the second axle. It is driven only when the center differential is engaged.
Photos of the underside show the oddball arrangement, where the center axle is driven from an offset driveshaft from the front. It looks strange, but it at least looks fairly simple. You can also see from those underside pics that there’s not much in the way of rust and that the piping to the in-bed exhaust stacks looks extremely fresh.
Bigger Bed Gets Bench Seats
Other non-stock additions include a vintage Warn winch, a tow hitch, and a pair of benches in the back that we assume are for off-road use only.
The seats in the cabin are fair game, and the truck has five of them. In an interior that looks absolutely spotless, suggesting that this 6×6 may not have led a particularly tough life.
This is a vehicle that is special. Unless you live in the most arcane neighborhood in America, you’re never going to see another one at your local cars and coffee. And you definitely won’t pass anything like it on the highway.
The 6×6 Land Rover Defender is up for auction on off-road specialist site Fourbie Exchange. It also has about a million photos you should check out. The sale runs through January 9 and closes at 3 p.m. Eastern.
