All you need to know about Land Rover
Date of Birth: 1948
Nationality: British
The prototype of what was to become the farming/military icon was built in 1947 by Maurice Wilks, to replace his worn-out Willys Jeep and provide a product to keep Rover Cars in business after the second World War.
It had a centre-placed steering wheel, and he used aluminium because there was a shortage of steel. The steering wheel was shifted to normal position when the Series 1 production version came in 1948, powered by a 1600cc petrol engine.
In 1951 a 2-litre engine replaced the smaller unit and two years later the vehicle was produced in a longer version. The car didn't go diesel until 1957, when a 2-litre oil-burning unit became an option.
The Series II came in 1959 by which time a quarter of a million Land Rovers had been built - it took just another six years to double that figure. The IIs had a wider track and were now powered by a 2.25-litre petrol engine as standard. The diesel engine was enlarged to 2.25 litres in 1961 - and five years later the petrol engine became a 2.6-litre. In 1968 a special lightweight "airportable" version was built for military use. It never made it to dealerships.
In 1971, Series III arrived with unheard-of comforts such as a padded bulkhead and all-syncromesh gearbox. By now, production had reached 750,000.
In 1970, Land Rover introduced the Range Rover (below), the first-ever "luxury" offroader. It used the 3.5-litre V8 which had already appeared in some Rover cars and some Series IIIs, had self-levelling suspension, and coil springs. Available only in 2-door until 1981, it had a 4-speed gearbox until the automatic option in 1982 and 5-speed manual in 1983.In 1986 a 2.4-litre diesel option was added. Exports to the US began in 1987, and the car immediately caught the fancy of wealthy Americans. In 1989, a 3.9-litre version was introduced. The second generation model, with less distinctive styling was introduced in 1994, and continued until the current version took the model into the high-level luxury car area in 2001. Meantime, the original RR "Classic" continued to be built until 1996.
In 1989, LR introduced the Discovery, designed to be in-between the spartan original and the luxury Range Rover. Originally it used the 3.5 V8 and a 2.5-litre turbodiesel, but a 2-litre petrol was later added. A second generation Disco came in 1998, all different and bigger but looking exactly the same.
In 1997 the Freelander arrived to get into the growing "softroader" SUV segment. The first LR with monocoque construction, and without low-ratio gearbox option, it actually proved to be very capable indeed. The original 1.8-litre petrol was joined by a 2.5-litre V6 and 2-litre diesel in 2000, to spearhead the release of the small Land Rover in the US.
Land Rover's business background was chequered throughout all this. The Rover Group escaped the 1970s British Leyland shambles to be taken over by British Aerospace in 1988, sold to BMW in 1994, and then sold to present owners Ford in 2000.
Best Car: Classic Range Rover because it was globally pivotal.
Worst Car: First generation Discovery, which had disastrous build quality.
Weirdest Car: A fully-equipped G4 Discovery after a week in the canyonlands of Utah .