A Series 1 Land-Rover presented to Sir Winston Churchill on his 80th birthday will cross the block at Cheffins’ Cambridge Vintage Sale on 20 October.
Adapted for the wartime leader’s use, the 4x4 features a specially widened passenger seat, an armrest where the middle seat would normally be and a leather grab handle fitted to the bulkhead. It would later be retrofitted with a truck cab and a foot-well heater.
Always chauffeur driven, Churchill used UKE 80 (standing for United Kingdom Empire) to tour the 300 acres that made up the Chartwell estate, before he died in 1965.
Ownership was then passed to his son-in-law who used it exclusively on the Eridge farm until 1973 when it was sold for £160.
A neighbour, who noticed the off-roader’s famous past, made the new owner an offer he couldn’t refuse and it was put to work towing a horsebox before being retired to a shed in 1977.
The historically important machine is expected to sell for £50-60,000.
