Land Rover. The origin of the legendary SUV
The history of Land Rover is a history of a real 4WD vehicle, a unique SUV, which is considered the standard of reliability, off-road performance, comfort, and stylish design. Land Rover company that produces premium off-road cars is originally British but since 2008 it belongs to the Indian Tata Motors, which also owns the Jaguar brand. Yes, everybody knows that Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar, and Daimler are most often associated with the name of the British Queen but her favorite car has been her good old Land Rover Defender.
The origin of the legendary SUV
Rover company, one of the oldest British automotive companies, was established back in 1887, started with the production of bicycles, not yet cars. However, it produced its first Rover car a couple of years later, in 1889. As was the case with many automotive companies founded in the early 20th century, Rover barely survived the Second World War and required updating. The warehouses accumulated a lot of aluminum left over from the release of fighters and bombers. Aluminum is lightweight and corrosion-resistant. It is a good choice for vehicles, designed for harsh off-road conditions. The Wilks brothers decided that it was necessary to keep on somehow and used everything they had to create a simple but reliable and resistant car.
The first Land Rover car appeared in 1948. Wilks brothers used American Willys as a prototype for it.
The first Land Rover car appeared in 1948. It was a high-duty car, simple and reliable. It was created by Wilks brothers, Spencer and Morris, who worked at the factory of the British car Rover company. They used American Willys as a prototype. Spencer Wilks was looking for something to load the plant’s idle capacity after the war. And his brother Maurice Wilks couldn’t find spare parts to repair his army Willys. Then the brothers came up with the idea to create their own inexpensive and undemanding SUV, which would be useful for farmers.
In 1947, as an alternative to Willys Jeep from the US, the British introduced their Centre Steer. The engine of 1.5 liters was taken from pre-war Rover cars. The bodywork was painted green using aircraft paint. Pieces of scrap steel were welded for the chassis, and then assembled and used as a strong supporting frame. Of course, it had a 4-wheel drive. It was simple and reliable. Maurice Wilks came up with the name Land Rover for the car - as it was ‘land’, off-road Rover.
Just in three months, Land Rover was sold in 68 countries! Although it was a noisy and rigid car, and its top speed was only 75 km/h, it was still the most popular choice of farmers! And then the whole world fell in love with Defender.
Rover company was surprised by an unexpectedly huge interest to this model. Land Rover was not an ‘intermediate’ option, as the Wilks brothers thought. In 1948, the number of produced SUVs was the same, and the next year it was twice the number of produced Rover sedans. Not only farmers but also the military, rescue, and recovery workers found in Land Rover the qualities they needed for their hard daily work. In 1959, the 250,000th Land Rover was produced. Now Defender, Discovery, Range Rover, and Freelander are unique SUVs, which have no rival.
Range Rover is the only car in the world, exhibited in the Louvre as the highest achievement in automotive technology and design! Range Rover is equally good for an off-road journey as well as for a social event.
Defender is a true legend! It has remained almost the same for more than 60 years, only the engine became more powerful. For all that time, it did not lose its popularity! It is a car for a true rolling stone!
Discovery, intended for family use, won a huge number of awards and prizes. Today, Land Rover produces the 4th generation of Discovery, which features a bold design combined with clean lines and visual simplicity. Perhaps it is the leader in the class of SUV but with all the comfort and convenience inherent to the car.
Freelander is probably also the best car in its class. Its breadth is amazing: maneuverability, comfort, handling, reliability. Freelander was the first to receive HDC, a system that helps safely descend on an inclined plane. It was the first model of the brand with independent suspension of all wheels. Freelander behaves well on both country and urban roads. For five years, Freelander remained the most popular 4WD car in Europe.
Range Rover Sport is a fantastic car! It can overcome huge distances in sports style without losing comfort. It is far ahead of its competitors in off-road performance, and at the same time occupies a leading position on the freeway. Range Rover Sport is widely considered the best vehicle in the history of Land Rover for handling and dynamic performance. People fall in love with it for its compactness, maneuverability, and excellent all-terrain driving qualities.
Range Rover Evoque is a stylish urban SUV that delivers high fuel efficiency and good off-road performance. In the first year of production, 88,000 cars of this model were sold. Evoque has been awarded as the Car of the Year by Auto Express, as well as called Motor Trend and Top Gear’s Car of the Year.
Range Rover is the only car in the world, exhibited in the Louvre, Defender is the choice of the British queen, Discovery is a crazy award-winner, Freelander is the most popular 4WD in Europe, Evoque is the Top Gear’s Car of the Year.
Land Rover never stands still! In 2018, it announced the beginning of a new project called Cortex, which is expected to cost about $5M. The goal of this project is ‘to create self-propelled robotic vehicles capable of independent off-road travels in any kind of weather conditions.’
