Summary
It was Rover's chief engineer Maurice Wilks who turned desperation into inspiration. After the war, this part-time farmer had acquired some surplus American army Jeeps as work vehicles and was impressed with their sturdiness. Wilks thought that building a similar vehicle -- largely using existing mechanical pieces -- would make the perfect export, not to mention home-market vehicle.
Using an actual Willys Jeep chassis, the first Landrover (it was originally one word and later became two), was constructed in October, 1947. The Jeep's wheelbase was retained for production models, which had lightweight aluminum bodies and a 50-horsepower 1.6-litre OHV four-cylinder engines borrowed from Rover's P3-series sedans.Although flat-out performance was never the Land Rover's strong suit, it did receive the Range Rover's 3.5-litre V8 in 1979.See the full content of this document
Extract
Land Rover a Study in Survival
By Malcolm Gunn
No matter who owns the Land Rover company today, the brand is a certified legend that is loved and respected in more than 140 countries by people who have a taste for adventure and a need to go just about anywhere.That was a pretty impressive lega...See the full content of this document
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