What is the History of the Land Rover?

The Land Rover is a rugged multi-terrain, 4-wheel-drive workhorse vehicle that is second only to the Jeep as the most enduring 4X4 on the market for civilian use.

History

The Land Rover was born in 1947 on a Welsh farm in the United Kingdom at the hands of Maurice Wilks, the chief designer for the Rover car company. Mimicking the attributes of the American-made Jeep, especially its strong chassis, the body had aluminum skin taken from World War II-era aircraft. Full production began in 1948.

Significance

The Rover has emerged from its light-duty labor origins to a must-have sports utility vehicle for suburban families to a luxury car rivaling the Hummer, the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator.

Function

The vehicle's original intent was to perform hauling, transporting people and all-around dirty work in the most brutal environments, including daily driving in Africa and farm work in the Australian outback.

Types

Six series of the Land Rover have been produce since 1948, with the Series 1 perhaps the most iconic of all models. But the body style remained consistent, and essentially unchanged for more than two decades, until the Defender model debuted in 1983.

Features

The power plant during the second series run consisted of a durable 2.3-liter engine and later a 2.6-liter, 6-cylinder version. These were by no means powerful, but more than adequate given the Rover's lightweight construction.

Identification

The box-steel construction of the early bodies, the exaggerated fenders and lack of creature comforts made the Rover an unlikely family car, yet they were sought as a second car in rural England and Australia.

Size

The size of the Land Rover is counter-intuitive to the standard passenger car and truck of the postwar era with an ultra-short wheelbase of 80 inches while the longer versions measure only 109 inches.