The most desirable specification and an amazing example that has covered just 15,900 miles from new in the hands of three owners that remains in excellent original order in all respects. It featured on the cover of Land Rover International Magazine December 2015 who described it as a “time warp 110, never welded or painted and still mint”.

By 1990 the County V8 has been upgraded to its ultimate specification, the new SU carbs increasing power to 134bhp, power steering featured and yet the traditional look of the Series 3 remained as did the rear benches offering 12 seat capacity in Station Wagon form. This one was supplied by Merlin Land Rover of Nottingham to the owner of Millhouse Garage in Derbyshire, a Rover main dealer and classic car collector. It was built to his order and the plan was for it to be used for occasional car towing duties however he passed away shortly after and it then remained virtually unused being stored in the corner of the workshop aside from periodic servicing as recorded in the original service book on file.

After 23 years of inactivity the Landie was purchased by a persistent Land Rover enthusiast who has been trying to buy the car for years, at this point it had covered just 14,500 miles. He again used the car minimally before selling it in 2017 to the third and final owner, a Land Rover enthusiast with a significant private collection of exceptional cars. A further 1,400 dry miles have been added since, the car being stored in ideal conditions when not in use.

The five-page article on the car in Land Rover International Magazine December 2015 best describes its amazing condition today. Writer and Land Rover expert Mark Saville said of it “this is the most amazing 25 (then) year old utility Land Rover I’ve been in. The dash is perfect as opposed to the usual dishevelled, cracked affair. The seats are pristine, not plucked and stained. It’s fantastic – like being in a cocoon that’s a quarter of a century behind the world in the other side of the driver’s door. This Land Rover deserves to be preserved, not abused or modified”.

Suffice it to say the Landie drives as one would expect with a tightness and fluency that only a carefully looked after low mileage original car can. The power steering and smooth V8 power are more reminiscent of an early Range Rover than Defender and there is a notable amount more room for the driver than is available in the later Defender models.

This unrepeatable County comes with all tools, keys and books including the above mentioned original stamped service book. It requires nothing having recently been fully checked and serviced by a highly regarded Land Rover specialist. Needless to say, they were suitably impressed!