Land Rover

Series I first registered January 1949
"HUE166 first production Land-Rover"
portraits of Spencer and Maurice Wilks

Series IIA long-wheelbase

Series IIA dashboard

Land Rover conversion to fight forest fires, Cascina, Italy (August 2016)

The design for the original vehicle was started in 1947 by Maurice Wilks. Wilks, chief designer at the Rover Company, on his farm in Newborough, Anglesey, working in conjunction with his brother Spencer who was the managing director of Rover.[11] The design may have been influenced by the Jeep[12] and the prototype, later nicknamed Centre Steer, was built on a Jeep chassis and axles.[13] The early choice of colour was dictated by military surplus supplies of aircraft cockpit paint, so early vehicles only came in various shades of light green. Starting with the series I Land Rover, all models in this era featured sturdy box-section ladder-frame chassis.[14] Early vehicles like the Series I were field-tested at Long Bennington and designed to be field-serviced.

After the formation of Land Rover Limited in 1978 the hyphen in Land-Rover —as shown in the logo— began to be dropped.[15]

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 (BL) following Leyland Motor Corporation's takeover of Rover in 1967. The ongoing commercial success of the original Land Rover series models, and latterly the Range Rover in the 1970s in the midst of BL's well-documented business troubles prompted the establishment of a separate Land Rover company but still under the BL umbrella, remaining part of the subsequent Rover Group in 1988, under the ownership of British Aerospace after the remains of British Leyland were broken up and privatised.

On 31 January 1994, Rover Group plc, including Land Rover, was acquired by BMW. In 2000, Rover Group was broken up by BMW and Land Rover was sold on to Ford Motor Company, becoming part of its Premier Automotive Group. The transition to BMW ownership only just preceded introduction of the second generation Range Rover, prior to launching Land Rover's first unibody model, the Freelander in 1997. BMW was then responsible for much of the development of the Range Rover III—the first to have a monocoque structure and independent suspension, introduced under Ford in late 2001.[16]

After introduction of the all-new Range Rover in 2001, Ford moved Land Rover further away from its traditional boxed ladder-frames, by introducing a new generation Discovery featuring "Integrated Body Frame", in 2004. From then on, only the Defender continued on Land Rover's traditional since 1948 underpinnings. Use of the Rover V8 engine in Land Rovers also ended with the replacement of the mk. II Discovery.

In 2006 Ford also purchased the Rover brand from BMW for around £6 million. BMW had retained ownership of the brand to protect the integrity of the Land Rover brand, with which 'Rover' might be confused in the US 4x4 market and allowed it to be used under licence by MG Rover until it collapsed in 2005, at which point it was offered to the Ford Motor Company, who by then owned Land Rover. On 11 June 2007, Ford announced that it planned to sell Land Rover along with Jaguar Cars. Private equity firms such as Alchemy Partners of the UK, TPG Capital, Ripplewood Holdings, Cerberus Capital Management and One Equity Partners of the US, Tata Motors of India and a consortium comprising Mahindra & Mahindra of India and Apollo Management all initially expressed interest in purchasing the marques from the Ford Motor Company.[17][18] On 1 January 2008, Ford formally declared that Tata was the preferred bidder.[19] On 26 March 2008, Ford announced that it had agreed to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors, and that it expected to complete the sale by the end of the second quarter of 2008.[20]

On 18 January 2008, Tata Motors, a part of the Tata Group, established Jaguar Land Rover Limited as a British-registered and wholly owned subsidiary. The new company was to be used as a holding company for the acquisition of the two businesses from Ford—Jaguar Cars Limited and Land Rover. That acquisition was completed on 2 June 2008 at a cost of £1.7 billion.[21][22][23][24] Included in the deal to buy Land Rover and Jaguar Cars were the rights to three other British brands: the Daimler marque, as well as two dormant brands Lanchester and Rover.[25]

On 1 January 2013, the group, which had been operating as two separate companies (Jaguar Cars Limited and Land Rover), although on an integrated basis, underwent a fundamental restructuring. The parent company was renamed to Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC, Jaguar Cars Limited was renamed to Jaguar Land Rover Limited and the assets (excluding certain Chinese interests) of Land Rover were transferred to it. The consequence was that Jaguar Land Rover Limited became responsible in the UK for the design, manufacture and marketing of both Jaguar and Land Rover branded products, and Land Rover and Jaguar Cars ceased to be separate vehicle producing entities.[26]

• 1947: Rover's chief designer Maurice Wilks and his associates create a prototype using Jeep chassis and components[27]
• 1948: The first Land Rover was officially launched 30 April 1948, at the Amsterdam Motor Show
• 1958: Series II launched
• 1961: Series IIA began production
• 1967: Rover becomes part of Leyland Motors, later British Leyland (BL) as Rover Triumph
• 1970: Introduction of the Range Rover
• 1971: Series III launched
• 1974: Land Rover abandons US market[28] facing competitive pressure from Japanese 4x4 brands
• 1975: BL collapses and is nationalised, publication of the Ryder Report recommends that Land Rover be split from Rover and be treated as a separate company within BL and becomes part of the new commercial vehicle division called the Land Rover Leyland Group
• 1976: One-millionth Land Rover leaves the production line
• 1978: Land Rover Limited formed as a separate subsidiary of British Leyland[29]
• 1980: Rover car production ends at Solihull with the transfer of SD1 production to Cowley, Oxford; Solihull is now exclusively for Land Rover manufacture. 5-door Range Rover introduced
• 1983: Land Rover 90 (Ninety)/110 (One-Ten)/127 (renamed Defender in 1990) introduced
• 1986: BL plc becomes Rover Group plc; Project Llama started
• 1987: Range Rover is finally introduced to the US market, following many years of demand being filled by grey market sales[30][31]
• 1988: Rover Group is privatised and becomes part of British Aerospace, and is now known simply as Rover
• 1989: Introduction of Discovery
• 1990: The Ninety and One-Ten range of models are given the generic name of Defender
• 1994: Rover Group is taken over by BMW. Introduction of second-generation Range Rover. (The original Range Rover was continued under the name 'Range Rover Classic' until 1995)
• 1997: Land Rover introduces the Special Edition Discovery XD with AA yellow paint, subdued wheels, SD type roof racks, and a few other off-road upgrades directly from the factory. Produced only for the North American market, the Special Vehicles Division of Land Rover created only 250 of these bright yellow SUVs.
• 1997: Introduction of Freelander
• 1998: Introduction of mark II Discovery
• 2000: BMW breaks up the Rover Group and sells Land Rover to Ford for £1.8 billion[32]
• 2002: Introduction of third-generation Range Rover
• 2004: Introduction of second-generation Discovery, marketed as the Discovery 3, or LR3, depending on market
• 2005: Introduction of Range Rover Sport
• 2005: Adoption of Jaguar AJ-V8 engine to replace the BMW M62 V8 in the Range Rover
• 2006: Announcement of a new 2.4-litre diesel engine, 6-speed gearbox, dash and forward-facing rear seats for Defender. Introduction of second generation of Freelander (Freelander 2). Ford acquires the Rover trademark from BMW, who previously licensed its use to MG Rover Group
• 8 May 2007: 4,000,000th Land Rover rolls off the production line, a Discovery 3 (LR3), donated to The Born Free Foundation
• 12 June 2007: Announcement from the Ford Motor Company that it plans to sell Land Rover and also Jaguar Cars
• August 2007: Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra as well as financial sponsors Cerberus Capital Management, TPG Capital and Apollo Global Management expressed their interest in purchasing Jaguar Cars and Land Rover from the Ford Motor Company.[33]
• 26 March 2008: Ford agreed to sell the Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors.[20]
• 2 June 2008: Tata Motors finalised their purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford and put them into their new subsidiary, Jaguar Land Rover[21]
• 2010: Introduction of Discovery 4 / LR4
• 2011: The Range Rover Evoque introduced
• 2012: Fourth-generation Range Rover was exhibited at the 2012 Paris Motor Show
• 1 January 2013: Land Rover and Jaguar Cars merged to form a single company, Jaguar Land Rover Limited, producing vehicles under both marques
• 2014: The New Discovery Range was unveiled at the 2014 New York Motor Show[34]
• 1 March 2017: The Range Rover Velar was unveiled in London[35]
• June 2018: representatives of the company Land Rover announced the launch of a new project called "Cortex", for the implementation of which will be spent about $5 million. The goal of this project is "to create self-propelled cars-robots that are able to independently navigate off-road in all weather conditions."[36]
• September 2019: Land Rover announces it is working on a remote control system for its new Defender that would allow low-speed driving from outside the car[37][38]
• 2020: Land Rover Defender (L663) is released.

Worldwide sales of Land Rover tripled from model year 2008/'09 to 2014/'15 (from almost 130,000 to some 385,000 units), to peak at a further 10% higher in '15/'16 and '16/'17, and have since slid by some 100,000 (to 320,000 units) in 2018/'19.[44] In spite of the facts, that Australia and New Zealand were important Land Rover markets in the 20th century, and sales in the Asia Pacific region have quadrupled from 2008/'09 to 2014/'15, Land Rover have stopped publishing sales of that region separately – instead including them in "Rest of World" starting 2015/'16.

Overall, Europe is the firm's primary market, consistently yielding 40% to 50% of global units sold. Generally, half of that is down to the home (UK) market. Sales in the U.K. and the U.S. have generally kept equal pace, but since 2012 China has taken the lead as Land Rover's biggest single country market, except for 2018/'19.[44]

Per calendar year: [45]

Per model year: [44]

The Discovery Sport is the most successful Land Rover model, selling 95,520 units globally in 2018. This was followed by another 'sports' model, the Range Rover Sport, at 77,847 units.[44] The Discovery Sport is the successor to the brands Freelander model, which was Europe's best selling 4x4 for five years in a row, after its market introduction in 1997.[46]

• Series I, II, IIA and III
• Freelander (sold in some markets as LR2)

• Defender
• Discovery
• Discovery Sport
• Range Rover
• Range Rover Sport
• Range Rover Velar
• Range Rover Evoque

Models developed for the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) include:

• 101 Forward Control – also known as the "Land Rover One Tonne FC"
• 1/2 ton Lightweight – airportable military short-wheelbase from the Series 2a
• Land Rover Wolf – an uprated Military Defender
• Snatch Land Rover – Land Rover with composite armoured body in UK Armed Forces Service
• 109 Series IIa and III ambulance (body by Marshalls of Cambridge)
• Range Rover '6×6' Fire Appliance (conversion by Carmichael and Sons of Worcester) for RAF airfield use
• 130 Defender ambulance
• 'Llama' prototypes for 101 replacement

Models developed for the Australian Army

• Land Rover Perentie 4×4 and 6×6

During the history of the Land Rover many different engines have been fitted:

• The inlet-over-exhaust petrol engines ("semi side-valve"), in both four- and six-cylinder variants, which were used for the very first Land Rovers in 1948, and which had their origins in pre-war Rover cars. Displacement of the first models was 1,600 cc.
• The four-cylinder overhead-valve engines, both petrol and diesel, which first appeared (in diesel form) in 1957, near the end of Series One production, and evolved over the years to the 300 TDi turbodiesel, which remains in production today for some overseas markets.
• The Buick-sourced all aluminium Rover V8 engine.
• 1,997 cc Petrol, inlet-over-exhaust: Series I engine, carried over for the first few months of Series II production.
• 2,052 cc Diesel, overhead-valve: Land Rover's first diesel engine, and one of the first small high-speed diesels produced in the UK. It appeared in 1957, and was used in Series II production until 1961. Looks almost identical to the later 2,286 cc engine, but many internal differences. It produced 51 bhp (38 kW).
• 2,286 cc Petrol, overhead-valve, three-bearing crank:
• 2,286 cc Diesel, overhead-valve, three-bearing crank: Appeared in 1961 alongside the redesigned 2,286 cc petrol engine at the start of Series IIA production, and shared its cylinder block and some other components. It produced 62 bhp (46 kW).
• 2,625 cc Petrol, inlet-over-exhaust: Borrowed from the Rover saloon range, in response to demands from mid-1960s Land Rover users for more power and torque.
• 2,286 cc petrol/diesel, overhead-valve type 11J: five-bearing crank: In 1980, Land Rover finally did something about the crank failures which had plagued its four-cylinder engines for 22 years. These engines lasted beyond the end of Series III production and into the first couple of years of the new Ninety and One Ten ranges.[47]
• 3,258 cc V8 Petrol: The ex-Buick all alloy V8 engine appeared in the Range Rover right from the start of production in 1970, but did not make its way into the company's utility vehicles until 1979.
• 2,495 cc petrol, overhead valve: The final development of Land Rover's ohv petrol 'four', with hardened valve seats which allow running on unleaded (or LPG).
• 2,495 cc diesel, overhead valve, type 12J: Land Rover reworked the old 'two and a quarter' diesel for the 1980s. The injection pump was driven off a toothed belt at the front of the engine (together with the camshaft), a change compared with the older diesels.
• 2,495 cc turbodiesel, overhead valve, type 19J
• 2,495 cc turbodiesel, overhead valve, 200TDi and 300TDi: Used in the Defender and Discovery from 1990. The cylinder block was similar to the previous engine, although strengthened but the cylinder head was all-new and a direct injection fuel system was used.
• 2,495 cc turbodiesel, five-cylinder, TD5: An all-new engine for the second generation Discovery, and the Defender featuring electronic control of the fuel injection system, 'drive by wire' throttle, and other refinements
• The original Freelander models were available with various Rover K-series engines.
• In beginning of 2015 they start to use the all new Ingenium engine family, to replaced Ford sourced engines.

As of August 2012, most Land Rovers in production are powered by Ford engines.[48] Under the terms of the acquisition, Tata has the right to buy engines from Ford until 2019.[49]

British Land Rover near Pyongyang, November 1950, during the Korean War

A mired Land Rover of the 1st Armoured Division being extracted during the Gulf War

Ex-Australian Army Land Rover Series 2 "gunbuggy", with an M40 recoilless rifle used in the anti-tank role, at the Australian War Memorial

Defenders of the Bermuda Regiment, 1994

Land Rovers on parade with the Italian Army, Navy and Air Force, June 2007

Various Land Rover models have been used in a military capacity, most notably by the British Army and Australian Army. Modifications may include military "blackout" lights, heavy-duty suspension, uprated brakes, 24 volt electrics, convoy lights, electronic suppression of the ignition system, blackout curtains and mounts for special equipment and small arms. Dedicated military models have been produced such as the 101 Forward Control and the air-portable 1/2 ton Lightweight. Military uses include light utility vehicle; communications platform; weapon platform for recoilless rifles, Anti-tank (e.g. TOW or M40 recoilless rifle) / Surface-to-Air Guided Weapons or machine guns; ambulances and workshops. The Discovery has also been used in small numbers, mostly as liaison vehicles.

Two models that have been designed for military use from the ground up are the 101 Forward Control from the early 1970s and the Lightweight or Airportable from the late 1960s. The latter was intended to be transported under a helicopter. The Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service (RAFMRS) teams were early users in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and their convoys of Land Rovers and larger military trucks are a sight often seen in the mountain areas of the United Kingdom. Originally RAFMRS Land Rovers had blue bodies and bright yellow tops, to be better seen from above. In 1981, the colour scheme was changed to green with yellow stripes. More recently, vehicles have been painted white, and are issued with fittings similar to civilian UK Mountain Rescue teams.

An adaptation of Land Rovers to military purposes is the "Pink Panther" models. Approximately 100 Series IIA models were adapted to reconnaissance use by British special operations forces the SAS. For desert use they were often painted pink, hence the name. The vehicles were fitted with among other gear a sun compass, machine guns, larger fuel tanks and smoke dischargers. Similar adaptations were later made to Series IIIs and 90/110/Defenders.[57]

The Australian Army adapted the Land Rover Series 2 into the Long Range Patrol Vehicle for use by the Special Air Service Regiment and as an anti-tank "gunbuggy" fitted with an M40 recoilless rifle.

The 75th Ranger Regiment of the United States Army also adapted twelve versions of the Land Rover that were officially designated the Ranger Special Operations Vehicle.

Series and Defender models have also been armoured. The most widespread of these is the Shorts Shorland, built by Shorts Brothers of Belfast. The first of these were delivered in 1965 to the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force. They were originally 109-inch (2,800 mm) wheelbase models with an armoured body and a turret from the Ferret armoured car. By 1990, there had been more than 1,000 produced.[58] In the 1970s, a more conventional armoured Land Rover was built for the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Wales called the Hotspur. The Land Rover Tangi was built by the Royal Ulster Constabulary's own vehicle engineering team during the 1990s. The British Army has used various armoured Land Rovers, first in Northern Ireland but also in more recent campaigns. They first added protective panels to Series General Service vehicles (the Vehicle Protection Kit (VPK)). Later they procured the Glover Webb APV and finally the Courtaulds (later NP Aerospace) Composite Armoured Vehicle, commonly known as Snatch. These were originally based on heavy-duty V8 110 chassis but some have recently been re-mounted on new chassis from Otokar of Turkey and fitted with diesel engines and air-conditioning for Iraq. Although these now have more in common with the 'Wolf' (Defender XD) Land Rovers that many mistakenly confuse them with, the Snatch and the Wolf are different vehicles.

The most radical conversion of a Land Rover for military purposes was the Centaur half-track. It was based on a Series III with a V8 engine and a shortened belt drive from the Alvis Scorpion light tank. A small number was manufactured, and they were used by Ghana, among others.

The Land Rover is used by military forces throughout the world. The current generation of Land Rover used by British Army, the Snatch 2, have upgraded and strengthened chassis and suspension compared to civilian-specification vehicles. There is also the Land Rover WMIK (weapon mounted installation kit) used by British Army. The WMIK consists of a driver, a raised gun, usually a Browning heavy machine gun or a grenade machine gun, this used for ground support, and a GPMG (general-purpose machine gunner) located next to the driver, this used for vehicle protection.

Highly modified Land Rovers have competed in the Dakar Rally and won the Macmillan 4x4 UK Challenge almost every year, as well as having been the vehicle used for the Camel Trophy. Now, Land Rover has its own G4 challenge.[59]

In 1995, Land Rover endorsed the production of a hand-made bicycle using its logo. The bicycle, called the Land Rover APB and manufactured by Pashley Cycles of Stratford-upon-Avon,[71] was the collapsible version of Pashley Cycles' Moulton APB (All Purpose Bicycle) model, with leading link front suspension and adjustable damping and stroke. Two more models immediately followed: the Land Rover XCB V-20, aimed primarily at younger riders (children); and the Land Rover XCB D-26, also available as the M26 with hydraulic rim brakes, front suspension and suspension seat pillar.

In June 2004, Land Rover released a comprehensive 25 model range of bicycles. The three main ranges are the "Defender", the "Discovery", and the "Freelander", each with different attributes. The "Discovery" is an all-rounder bicycle suited to a variety of terrains, "Defender" is most suited to rugged terrain and off-road pursuits, whereas the "Freelander" is designed for an urban lifestyle. All bikes are made from lightweight aluminium.

In 2010 the range was relaunched in conjunction with British manufacturer 2x2.[72]

Land Rover has had its name associated with coffee since 2005, when the Land Rover Coffee company was established.[73]

Land Rover gave UK pram company Pegasus a licence to produce a three-wheeler range of Land Rover ATP pushchairs. The design reflected the heritage of the marque, with a light metal frame with canvas seating, held together with push-studs and tough simple parts like brakes and hinges. They could be collapsed completely flat, with wheels removed in seconds. The basic frame could be adapted with modules to allow a baby to lie flat or a bubble windscreen to completely enclose the child. The frame also came in long or short-handled versions, and could be repaired with home tools. The design was simple, light, and rugged and able to travel in all terrains (hence the ATP for all-terrain pushchair.) It came in three military looking colours: a light blue, a sand colour and olive drab. Production was discontinued in 2002.[74]