A unique 1998 Camel Trophy Land Rover Defender is being auctioned off right now with the bidding at a low $46,600 at the time of writing. The seller claims the vehicle completed the entire course of the world’s last Camel Trophy rally spanning the countries of Chile and Argentina.
The important caveat is that the off-roader never actually competed in the rally. Instead, it served as an official filming crew vehicle. Land Rover delivered it to the Camel Trophy team with numerous preinstalled off-road features.
These included a custom livery, a rugged body kit, a snorkel pipe for wading water, an expedition rack, auxiliary lighting, robust undercarriage protection, and a winch. The crew also optioned it with an access ladder, assorted tool mounts, sand tracks, and fuel cans.
For better performance off the trodden path, LR equipped this particular Defender with remotely controlled pneumatic differential locks from ARB. The interior ended up with a Terratrip rally computer on board, a 70-liter water tank with two faucets exiting inside and outside the car, power sockets, extra lights and an audio system largely built from Kenwood parts. The listing points out that one of the SUV’s former owners installed the audio.
The engine is not mentioned, so we are going with the assumption that it’s the stock 2.5-liter diesel mated to all four wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox and dual-range transfer case. These engines used to make approximately 115 PS (113 hp / 86 kW) and 265 Nm (195 lb-ft) of torque in their prime days.
With over 70,000 km (43,500 miles) under its belt, however, this Def is far from ideal condition. The seller claims that some of the damage it currently has it received back in South America during the rally – apparently, no one has bothered to repair it.