Maintaining the charm and character of a vintage Land Rover Defender pays to respect to the adventures that came before, while planning adventures yet to be explored.
Restore only what’s needed. Refresh the rest for peace of mind.
Beatrix
Pre-Restoration1997 Land Rover Defender 110 – 2.8i Petrol (RHD)
ABOUT BEATRIX
Beatrix is a rare 2.8i Petrol Land Rover Defender 110 exclusively built for the South African market. This smooth-running inline 6-cylinder was initially to become a workshop truck for the Minneapolis team. Still, we realized that others might want to enjoy driving something unique like this Defender, so we will put it up for adoption to see if there is interest. Also, we’re entirely out of parking space.
Being that it’s from the inland area of South Africa, the chassis is in great shape and will serve as a good foundation for further restoration. It also comes with working air conditioning- an outright luxury in the Land Rover world – and costs an arm and a leg to put in as an aftermarket option.
In case you’re wondering: Beatrix is a Latin feminine given name, most likely derived from Viatrix, a feminine form of the Late Latin name Viator which meant “voyager, traveler” and later influenced in spelling by association with the Latin word beatus or “blessed”.
Seems fitting for a vehicle like this.
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
This pre-restoration donor candidate is starting the restoration process in our new South African workshop. While it’s a bit tatty outside, she makes up for it with what’s under the bonnet. We’ve completed the mechanical restoration of the engine and are now beginning to decide which direction to take the restoration.
Current Status:
We’ve stripped most of the body to prepare for a respray. We are thinking about Arles Blue with White Roof, but could be convinced to go another direction if someone was interested.
With any Defender in this category, we offer the ability to upgrade, enhance, or modify the base vehicle. We can calculate that into an overall build sheet or offer various customer-desired enhancements. This way, you only pay for what’s important to you rather than taking on someone else’s style or design preferences.
| Model | Defender |
| Class | 110 |
| Body Type | 5 door station wagon (SW) |
| Model Year | 1997 |
| Steering | RHD |
| Engine | 2.8 BMW M52, 6 Cylinder, Petrol (South Africa) |
| Gearbox | 5 Speed, R380, Manual |
| Factory | Completely Knocked Down |
| Sequential number | 823577 |
OUR BUILD PLAN
the first priority for any Bishop+Rook build in this category is to focus on the motor, gearbox, transfer case, and axles. That serves as a foundation of reliability. Far too many Defenders on the market get a quick respray, a new set of wheels, and are punted along to the unsuspecting owner, who now has to sort through the mechanical nightmare nobody else wanted.
After that, we will tidy up the interior bits to make it presentable after years of overlanding adventures. We haven’t decided if we will repaint it yet, although that is on the table if someone wants to go that route.
PHOTO GALLERY OF PROJECT
Coming Soon.
THE BISHOP+ROOK BUILD DIFFERENCE
The difference between a Bishop+Rook Defender and a regular imported Defender on the market comes down to the hundreds (sometimes thousands) of hours we will spend to make them reliable and safe daily drivers. If you’re looking to build a custom Defender, check out our handy online pricing tool.
STARTING THE PROCESS
For those of you just starting your research on Defenders, there are a few areas you will want to learn about (maintenance, driving experience, and budget). For the last part – budget – we’ve recently launched a “Defender Budget Pricing Calculator” to help folks understand the different levels of pricing you should expect to see on the market.
A DEFENDER FOR EVERYONE
Whether you’re looking for a unique low-mileage Defender survivor or a complete nut-and-bolt bespoke restoration, we want to be the team that provides you with your dream vehicle. When other companies focus on cheap mechanical nightmares, or Defenders costing the same price as a house, we focus instead on – Defenders for the regular person. All of our Defenders undergo an extensive mechanical refresh to ensure years of reliable adventures. From there, you can decide how much further you want to go with a restoration.
ABOUT BISHOP+ROOK
Bishop+Rook is a Minneapolis-based importer and restorer of classic Land Rover Defenders. We are passionate about film, photography, travel, adventures, and vintage cars. We finally found a way to combine our life’s passion into helping others find their dream car. We restore the vehicles to an adventure-tested stage – not over-restored and not over-priced. We simply want to share our love and passion for these unique vehicles with like-minded people.
We price our vehicles fairly. Any profit we make is turned back into our creative projects or seeking out our next restoration. Any work we do is to ensure people can enjoy the vehicles right away – we make sure they are adventure-ready on day one.
We typically have about a dozen or so Defenders in stock, but for those looking for something truly unique we offer a service to find and import cars with specific requirements. Drop us a note and let us know what you would like.
We’re sure you have many questions. We try our best to answer anything and everything that comes our way, even if you decide not to do business with us. We simply love these vehicles. If you’re just starting your search, we wrote a little piece that may help you sort through the many models, conditions, and prices you may see on the marketplace. There are a lot of people importing Defenders these days, some really good guys, and a few others that might not have your best interest in mind.
Read our Guide: The Unicorn Hunt
CONTACT US
For more information, feel free to call or text us at +1 612.424.1642 or email us at mike@bishoprook.com
Details
| Price | $0 Rare 2.8i Petrol (BMW) |
|---|---|
| Miles | n/a |
| Color | White |
| Body | Defender 110 |
