DEFENDER OF THE FAITH

MUSCLE: 1990 Defender 90 off-roader POWER: 2.5-litre 200Tdi (125bhp) OWNER: Ian ‘Noddy’ Jenkins

IF you’re looking for off-road muscle with a hint of mud, look no further. Ian Jenkins – better known to his friends as Noddy – is a familiar face on the off-road winch challenge circuit – a gruelling pursuit inspired by the legendary Camel Trophy events of the 1980s and ’90s. It’s a tough sport in which highly-modifified Land Rovers quite literally live up to their go-anywhere reputation by taking on the sort of terrain that would have a mountain goat running scared.

For the few bits that their hard-as-nail trucks can’t reach, they resort to winch power. This sort of vehicle isn’t for the faint-hearted.

Noddy’s bobtailed 90 is the perfect example of off-road muscle, but attaining this sort of perfection didn’t come easily. “It’s a 1990 H-plate 200Tdi that was previously a pick-up used by Simon Elvins for winch challenge events,” he says. “I bought 11 years ago and I’ve just about fifinished it…”

In that 11 years he has made a lot of changes, including replacing the original Defender-spec 200Tdi engine for a Discovery version, chosen because the Disco’s power steering pump is situated higher up the engine and less likely to get immersed in mud. This meant fabricating a custom exhaust system and snorkel, to fifit.

There’s an AP Racing six-paddle Cerametallic clutch acting on a lightweight alloy flflywheel. Air-locking diffs and 4:1 crown wheel and pinions are from ARB, while Ashcroft supplied the drive shafts and CV joints in new cadmium Td5 casings.

Heavy-duty 110 brakes are fifitted front and rear, with Discovery master cylinder servo. There’s also an X-engineering disc hand brake, which is much less likely to get blocked by mud than the drum original.

The distinctive and purposeful-looking exterior comes thanks to North Off Road wings, cage and tray back. The front Warn 8274-50 winch is fifitted with XP motor and synthetic rope box solenoids. At the rear, a Husky winch sits in a welded tray at the back of the chassis.

For maximum power, Noddy has fifitted an Ally Sport intercooler, plus Davies Craig 16-inch cooling fan and 200 amp alternator. The battery is an Optima 5.5 Yellow Top, with four master switches.

Series III doors have replaced the original Defender items, because their sliding windows are much less likely to get jammed when the mud flflies.

Many of the modififications were created specially by Noddy, who runs Beast Motorsport in Bristol – a company specialising in building and looking after off-roaders for some pretty serious competitors.

“This is a custom-built extreme off-roader, which can also be used comfortably on-road, says Noddy. In other words, the ultimate muscle car.

In truth, there isn’t room here to list all the mods Ian has made to this truck, but I can’t resist the reasoning behind his locking cubby box. “It has to be lockable so that when I roll it over I don’t lose all my Mars Bars,” he says.