Out Now as an ebook Land Rover 65
Maria Sharapova, Marilyn Monroe and the queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips add piquancy to an endless stream of Defender, Freelander, Discovery and Range Rover in the 65th anniversary Land Rover File, out now. It celebrates Land Rover reaching a mature (pensionable) age. The anniversary marks Land Rover’s appearance at the Amsterdam Motor Show in April 1948. A basic, slightly rural vehicle made to the exemplary engineering standards of Rover cars, it seemed uncertain whether it was a car or a small truck.
The Autocar thought it “A practical road and cross country vehicle.”
The Motor was cautious of “… a vehicle intended to bash over far-flung parts of the empire on unmetalled tracks. So why should it be built with the same care as a Rover car? Surely something more agricultural would be better and cheaper.” SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle) was not yet invented and coming from one of Britain’s leading car factories it was obviously important. Rover, “One of Britain’s Fine Cars”, however thought of it as a temporary measure to see it through steel rationing and difficult markets.
Orders flooded in after showing it off at the Bath and West Show the month after Amsterdam, assuring Land Rover’s future. It saw farmers and small businesses through the aftermath of war, the first year’s production was only 3048 but 8000 were made in 1949, doubling to 16,000 in 1950. Rover was soon turning out 1,000 a week, earning over £2.5 million a year in foreign currency. A bewildering assortment of open and closed Land Rovers, fire engines, military and civilian followed, doing service in every desert, jungle, swamp, mountain and trouble spot throughout the world. Defender, Range Rover, Discovery, Freelander, Evoque and Range Rover Sport are detailed in The Land Rover File, with detailed specifications, descriptions and photographs. Roger Crathorne, Heritage and Technical PR Manager for Land Rover writes in a Foreword: “The story of a stop-gap model that became a world wide success has been told in hundreds of books, some written not only about one model or series, but just about one particular car. The Land Rover File covers the entire span in one work of reference that answers most of the questions people ask. Departments and executives inside Land Rover rely on what Eric Dymock and his researchers have chronicled as an independent author. We may not agree with him on absolutely everything but we use this book as a working document and I commend it as objective, truthful, packed with good pictures and down-to-earth detail.”
New photographs, details and specifications of every Land Rover Defender, Freelander, Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Discovery and Evoque including the aluminium Range Rover, military, special and expedition Land Rovers.
The definitive book on every Land Rover since 1948, with company history and comprehensive index.
Foreword by legendary Land Rover Heritage and Technical Manager Roger Crathorne.
Land Rover File 65 Anniversary Edition ISBN 978-0-9569533-6-0
