Defender 110 300TDi Camel Trophy (RI58 CDU)
This piece captures not a replica, not a recreation, but the genuine article — one of just 27 Defender 110s built by Land Rover Special Vehicles for the 1998 Camel Trophy in Tierra del Fuego. Painted in signature Sandglow Yellow against washes of dry ochres and earth greys, this vehicle carries the weight of one of adventure motorsport's most legendary final chapters.
The 1998 event marked a dramatic shift: for the first time, the Camel Trophy featured Freelanders as the primary competition vehicles, with these specially prepared Defenders serving as essential support machines. This particular 110 was assigned to Team Netherlands, and over the course of that brutal South American winter, it covered more than 6,000 kilometres of some of the most unforgiving terrain on Earth — glacial river crossings, volcanic ash fields, and the raw, exposed landscapes at the bottom of the world.
What makes this vehicle extraordinary is its authenticity. Preserved and unmolested, it retains every detail from that expedition: the roof rack and auxiliary lighting, the heavy-duty protection, the expedition-spec equipment that kept teams moving through conditions that would stop almost anything else. Having since been exported to, and is currently understood to be in, the United States, it stands as a preserved piece of automotive history — a survivor from the Camel Trophy's twilight years, when the event was already becoming legend.
Painting this Defender feels like honouring a veteran. The watercolour drips — ochres, warm slates, storm greys — evoke the wind and weather of Patagonia, the mud and rugged dryness, the sheer endurance required of both machine and crew. It's a tribute to an era when adventure meant risk, when exploration was raw and real, and when these yellow Defenders represented the pinnacle of go-anywhere capability. This isn't just a vehicle — it's a witness to history.