Taurus armoured Defender

History

The Taurus was built around 2000 in South Africa, one of three vehicles assembled from Completely Knocked Down Defender 110 Station Wagon kits and heavily modified into what was possibly intended as an off-the-shelf armoured car to be sold through Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations scheme. Registered MWX 394 GP (chassis SALLDHM871V842432) and powered by the 2.5-litre Td5 turbodiesel with five-speed gearbox, it is an unusually discreet conversion: the vehicle retains its full interior and standard 110 silhouette, while the engine bay and the underside of the bonnet are armoured, the solid windows open only hand-wide, and factory air conditioning compensates. The outer wings carry only the lights and form no part of the armour, and period photographs show it running run-flat tyres on custom rims.

Weighing roughly three tons, the Taurus was used as a demonstration and show car but never reached production. It is the only survivor of the three prototypes and now belongs to the Dunsfold Collection in Surrey, where its weight — impractical to trailer — keeps its public outings rare.

Imagery

Registry record

Manufacturer

Land Rover (Defender 110 Station Wagon CKD kit)

Manufactured

built c. 2000

Modifier / coachbuilder

unidentified South African armouring operation (CKD assembly and armouring, c. 2000)

Engine type

2.5 L Td5 five-cylinder turbodiesel

Production run

3 prototypes (1 survivor)

Current owner

The Dunsfold Collection ↗

Country of origin

South Africa (on a UK-designed Defender 110 CKD kit)

Status

preserved

Catalogue data

Record kind

Named model

Model line

Defender

Wheels

4

Base catalogue fields are exported from the Difflocked game. In-game physics values are arcade tuning, not certified historical measurements, and are deliberately not shown as specifications here.

Sources & citations

Researched sources

• 2000 Defender 110 'Taurus' armoured car prototype ↗ — The Dunsfold Collection (accessed 2026-09-10)
• Land-Rover Defender 110 'Taurus' Armoured Car Prototype (photograph at Dunsfold) ↗ — Flickr (Perico001, all rights reserved) (accessed 2026-09-10)

Catalogue references

• https://dunsfoldcollection.co.uk/collection/defender-110-taurus/ https://dunsfoldcollection.co.uk/collection/defender-110-taurus/ ↗

Development reference notes

• Taurus armoured Defender · HERITAGE-FLEET-REFERENCES.md

  Armoured shell; small windows; high, angular body. Reference: https://dunsfoldcollection.co.uk/collection/defender-110-taurus/