The History of the Classic Land Rover
Land Rovers have a reputation as some of the world’s best consumer vehicles for off-roading and exploration. Their rugged exteriors, spacious interiors, and advanced suspension systems make them a great option on multiple terrains. Today, Land Rovers are driven on six continents (with some concept material for a special Antarctic model), and are great for tackling African deserts, North American mountain ranges, or the Australian Outback. However, the models that most people think of when the name “Land Rover” is said are Discoveries or Defenders, the company’s car lines for pleasure cruises or terrain-conquering, respectively. But what did Land Rover make before these cars? What was the vehicle with which they first promised off-road supremacy to the world and delivered?
Long before the Land Rover was the multinational success described above, Land Rover was an idea on the brain of a British farmer. Maurice Wilks, lead auto designer for the Rover company, was concepting some new designs for cars that could reinvigorate interest in the brand. Rover was a bicycle company from the late 19th century that had eventually found more success in motorcycles and cars, but public familiarity could no longer support the company when the UK economy began to sag post-World War II. Wilks, along with his brother Spencer, were inspired by the Willys Jeeps used by the Allied Forces in the war and thought that something with a similar design could be a similar success story if sold on their soil. The brothers’ first prototype, which they tested on Maurice’s farm, was called Centre Steer, and was a combination of new parts and a Jeep chassis. Pleased with the results, Rover decided to push their prototype to production, even though the materials available–such as aluminum panels and green aircraft paint–were war surplus and not purpose-made. In spite of these factors, the car the company debuted at the 1948 Amsterdam auto show charmed onlookers and spurred many to buy one of the cars when it went up for sale later that year. That car, named the “Land” Rover in order to distinguish it from the rest of the company’s road-only cars, would quickly become a phenomenon that the Wilks brothers could not have expected.?
The increase in consumer interest in the Land Rover over the next three years was almost exponential. Wilks’ brainchild sold 3,048 units in 1948, 5,000 in 1949, and then a whopping 16,085 in 1950 Word about the Land Rover had most definitely started to spread, especially among the UK’s agricultural community. This first Land Rover model was perfect for their day-to-day work; its four-wheel drive system made short work of mud or dirt, its 1.6 liter engine provided enough torque to plow fields or move machinery, and its aluminum frame was both resistant to the elements and light enough to help the boxy car move quite nimbly. UK farmers were by no means the only people interested, however. By 1949, 70 countries were official export locations for the Land Rover, including most of Europe, China and surrounding East Asia, and even the United States. Customers from these and all markets who held out on purchasing a Land Rover until later on in the 1950s were rewarded with some nice reworks of this winning formula. The 1.6 liter engine was expanded to a 2 liter in 1952, and the 80-inch wheelbase was phased out in 1954 for newer, larger options. 86, 88, 107, and 109-inch wheelbases started to appear on the scene, giving buyers a choice between ease of control and larger interior space/towing capacity. With total sales in the mid-to-late 1950s peaking at around 29,000 units, it was clear that the vision for these cars resonated with a lot of people.? But even though they had something great on their hands, Rover knew they could do even better.?
“Better” arrived in 1958 in the form of the “Series II” Land Rover, which upped the engine literage up to 2.6 and widened the body for even more off-road capabilities. These factors and more body style and color options immediately endeared this model to the public, with sales crossing the 30- and 35,000 marks by the end of the decade. 1962 saw the Series II morph into the Series IIA, which further streamlined mechanics and power while adding some new body options into the mix.
The now-standard 88 and 109-inch wheelbases were there, but there were much larger platforms at play now, too; a wider 109 that could seat up to 12 passengers from 1962 to 1966, and a vanlike, canvas-topped people mover called the Land Rover Forward Control was sold from 1967 to 1971. More rugged vehicle types like these–along with no small amount of normal IIAs–were specially produced for use by the British Military. Land Rovers as a whole were a no-brainer for military use considering the origin of the brand is credited to the Jeep, but by this point the military market was almost as important to company sales as the average consumer. The company certainly did a good job selling to both, as by the end of the IIA’s lifetime total sales had amassed over 450,000.?
Once again feeling the need to make this number larger, Rover innovated on the IIA platform with the Series III in 1972. This was a model designed to marry as many practical and rugged features together as possible, and when you look at the feature list, it’s hard to say that Rover didn’t succeed. The dashboard dials increased in both size and accuracy, the interior seats’ visual appearance and comfortability were retooled, and the transmission was greatly improved with the addition of synchromesh on every wheel. Continuation of the 88”, 109”, 12-seater, and Forward Control options, as well as the addition of the SUV Range Rover model to the company lineup, meant that Land Rover had a banner decade of sales. From 1971 to 1979, upwards of 516,000 vehicles were sold.?
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It was clear that the company needed to move in bigger and better directions at the end of seventies. This decision to do so with the cars produced was preceded by a legal move in 1978, when the company split from the Rover division of British Leyland Motors and formed the actual Land Rover Company the same year. Seeking reinvention on all fronts, the company began to work towards an entirely new style of Land Rover that fully capitalized on the international reputation that their brand had garnered over the decades. No longer was the Land Rover a farm vehicle, but an exploration machine that was the first choice for both private and military expeditions in African and Asian jungles, swamps, deserts, and savannahs. So great was the company’s desire to lean into this imagery that they produced the Land Rover 90 and Land Rover 110, which would soon be brought under the Land Rover Defender model umbrella. This was another move which would catapult Land Rover’s success up a peg, but unfortunately for some of its fans, it would also spell the end for the classic models. Model IIIs were still produced all the way up until 1985, and continued to sell well, but the company tightened its focus at the end of that year and discontinued the classic model forever.?
Despite this abrupt cutoff and the sadness it brought to the Classic model line’s core fans, there’s not much to be glum about when it comes to these cars’ overall legacy. After all, Classic models took the company from two brothers’ prototype all the way to global success almost overnight. There were definitely a lot of customers for Discoveries and Range Rovers when they first released, but large portions of that buyer base were either repeat customers or people who had fallen in love with their friends’ classic Land Rovers. Rovers like these were the chassis upon which the exploration imagery, military connotation, and reputation for being hardy, roomy, off-road cars that didn’t quit came from, and without this reputation, there is no Land Rover of the present or future. Additionally, Classic Land Rovers are still in use today, either as generational farm vehicles, treasured family cars, or the jewel of an enthusiast’s collection. So, while we appreciate the whole of Land Rover’s history and look forward with excitement to what innovations its engineers continue to make, today we are more than glad to look back at what makes the name so special. And to the people who still own a Series I, II, or III Land Rover, keep on driving!
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