Rough but ready!

The Land Rover was conceived by the Rover Company in 1947 following World War 2. Before the war Rover had produced luxury cars which were not in demand in the post war period and raw materials were strictly rationed. The first Series 1 rolled off the production line in 1948.

Rover's original factory in Coventry had been bombed during the war, forcing the company to move into a huge "shadow factory" built just before the war in Solihull near Birmingham, and used to construct Bristol Hercules aircraft engines.

Maurice Wilks, Rover's chief designer came up with a plan to produce a light agricultural and utility vehicle, of a similar concept to the Willys Jeep used in the war, but with an emphasis on agricultural use.

The Land Rover was designed to only be in production for two or three years to gain some cash flow and export orders for the Rover Company so it could restart up-market car production. Once car production restarted, however, it was greatly outsold by the off-road Land Rover, which developed into its own brand that remains successful today.

It developed into a brand encompassing a range of four-wheel-drive models, including the Defender, Discovery, Freelander and Range Rover.

Production of the Land Rover Defender ceased in 2016.

Land Rover as a company has existed since 1978. Prior to this, it was a product line of the Rover Company which was subsequently absorbed into the Rover-Triumph division of the British Leyland Motor Corporation. In 1994 Rover Group plc was acquired by BMW. In 2000, Rover Group was broken up by BMW and Land Rover was sold to Ford Motor Company. In 2008, Ford Motor Company sold Jaguar and Land Rover to Indian manufacturer Tata Motors.

Series I Hard Top with double skinned '"Safari Roof".

2002 Land Rover Range Rover

Land Rovers had many uses!

Source: Wikipedia

Images: Believed to be in the Public Domain or used with permission