The Land Rover Story

Book excerpt: The Land Rover Story is a roller coaster ride through the life and times of Land Rover. Fast-paced and entertaining, it brings alive all aspects of Land Rover from its humble beginnings in 1948 to today’s world-wide renown, with the vehicles — successes and failures — and people at the centre of the story. The 1940s. How the Land Rover came about; the Wilks brothers; the Centre Steer enigma; development and production; launch and reaction. The 1950s. Rapid development and evolution of the original; successes and dead ends; worldwide reach; early expeditions; weird and wonderful modifications; the Series II. The 1960s. Consolidation and further developments; Series IIA; military models; initial development of the Range Rover; search for a V8 engine. The 1970s. The Series III; Range Rover’s popularity but lack of investment; Land Rover abandons US market; the British Leyland story; escape from BL and Michael Edwardes, saviour of Land Rover. The 1980s. British Aerospace ownership; Land Rover grows as most of Britain’s car industry self-destructs; emergence of the coil-sprung models; make or break time with launch of Discovery (Europe’s best-selling 4x4). The 1990s. Tdi engines; Defender and its development. BMW ownership; second-generation Range Rover P38; Freelander; second-generation Discovery; Td5 engine. The 2000s. Ford takeover, alliance with Jaguar, shift towards luxury; third-generation Range Rover L322; the G4 Challenge; Discovery 3, Range Rover Sport, TDCi Defender, Freelander 2, Discovery 4. The 2010s. Tata takeover, upsurge in sales and profits; Range Rover Evoque and Victoria Beckham; Range Rover 4; Range Rover Sport 2; Discovery Sport; Discovery 5; Range Rover Velar; DC100 concept; end of Defender production; rise of Defender as a fashion icon; and much more.