(music) In 1992 Land Rover estimated that 70% of all
the Land Rover’s they’d ever made were still on the road. The Land Rover is Britain’s bullet-proof
off-roader born out of Rover’s post-war desperation and became the indispensable go-anywhere
vehicle. Like its famed bullet-proof ruggedness, Land
Rover production kept going, and going, and going. But with a brief gap of 4 years, the Land
Rover is still with us and looks like it’s not going away any time soon. Let’s off-road! This is the Land Rover Defender Story. (music) Before World War II Rover made luxury cars, but after the war the Government only allowed
vehicle production that helped to rebuild Britain or could help with their export deficit. And forget asking for steel – that was severely
rationed! Rover’s chief designer, Maurice Wilks, had
been using an ex-US army Willy’s Jeep on his farm and hit upon the idea of creating
a similar vehicle for agricultural use, especially as his was getting worn out! He showed his idea to his brother Spen by
drawing it out in the sands of Red Wharf Bay. The first prototypes were built on a Jeep
platform with an engine from the Rover P3 and featured a central steering wheel. The engine driveshaft could be used to drive
farm machinery, and they tested it out by ploughing fields. A new 2-speed transfer box would give the
car 4WD. The design was simplified to reduce costs,
and the steering wheel was moved to the normal driving position. The result was a vehicle that didn't use a
single Jeep component. It was slightly shorter than its American
inspiration, but wider, heavier and faster. It used aluminium alloy bodywork as the Government
was rationing steel, but this turned into an asset as it didn’t rust in the harsh
conditions it was exposed to. The Land Rover, as it was called, was launched
in 1948 and helped with the Government’s push for export orders, selling all around
the Commonwealth, including to the Australian Government who used it for civil engineering
projects. This helped to fire the Australian public’s
love for the car, and by 1950 Land Rovers were also being assembled in South Africa. British customers warmed to this new type
of vehicle and were soon off-roading across farms. Early examples were a light green, reusing
surplus aircraft cockpit paint from the war. It initially used a 1.6L 4-cylinder engine,
which was increased to 2.0L in 1950. The car was simple and utilitarian, and management
were concerned long term sales would suffer if the car wasn’t made a little more comfortable. So, in 1949 they released the 80” Station
Wagon, essentially a short wheelbase Land Rover with a few extra refinements such as
a heater, and an all-aluminium body over a wooden frame. But it was expensive to produce and not many
sold, so Rover withdrew it from the market in 1951. The Land Rover was classified as a commercial
vehicle, which meant it was free from purchase tax. However, it also meant it wasn’t allowed
to go over 30mph on British roads. By the early 1950s it was reclassified to
“Multi-purpose vehicle” which meant it could go normal speeds on the road but was
also subject to purchase tax. In 1954 the 80” wheelbase was expanded to
86” and a new 107” wheelbase version was built which proved useful when Queen Elizabeth
used it to tour Commonwealth countries. A special version was presented to the wartime
Prime Minister, Winston Churchill that same year which he used to tour his estate. The British Army had initially chosen the
Austin Champ for its light military vehicle, but it soon became clear that the Land Rover
was more reliable, half the price and could do 80% of what the Champ could do, so they
quickly switched. By 1955 a 5-door version with room to seat
10 people was launched, useful as a small troop carrier. The Land Rover’s size was altered once more
in 1957 and Rover offered a new 2.0L high-speed diesel engine, which was designed specifically
for road use. With the Land Rover getting worldwide exposure
through royal visits, plus Government and military purchases, the Land Rover started
to be used around the world, from the outback to deserts to war zones to the country farm. The Series II Land Rover arrived in 1958. It was lightly restyled by in-house Rover
designer David Bache to round off those rough edges. It quickly gained an updated 2.2L petrol engine
that would be used in Land Rover’s until the mid-1980’s. The long wheelbase version could now carry 12 very
cramped people even though it wasn’t any bigger. This was because of UK tax rules that classified
any vehicle that could carry 12 people or more as a bus, and it was exempt from certain
taxes. This meant it wasn’t only cheaper than the
10-seat Land Rover, but cheaper than the 7-seater short wheelbase model! Just three years after the Series II, the
Series IIA was launched. The changes were minor, but it got new 2.2L
diesel and 2.6L petrol engines. By now they were being modified into many
different types of off-roading vehicle, and it helped that the Meccano-like construction
allowed infinite different configurations. With go-anywhere hovercrafts gaining prominence,
the British Army requested Land Rover design an amphibious off-roader. The car, or what it a boat?, had a custom-built
chassis and watertight hull. The hull was filled with polyurethane foam
that meant the boat/car was relatively impervious to small arms fire. Although a clever piece of engineering, it
unfortunately didn’t go into production. In 1962 a special Forward Control version
was launched with the cab over the front wheels to give more loading space. The axels were uprated, and it got larger
wheels to spread the additional weight. With the existing small engines, they were
underpowered but provided a good way to move people and equipment around. Production continued until 1974 when the Land
Rover range was rationalised. By 1968 Land Rover had been subsumed into
British Leyland. The car celebrated its 20th birthday with
total production just shy of 600,000. More than 70% had been exported making it
a British success story, and sales were growing stronger year by year. In 1969 over 60,000 were sold. In Australia it proved so popular that it
held 90% of the 4x4 market in a country that gave off-roaders a good workout. It had similar market dominance in Africa
and the Middle East. Although the more refined Range Rover was
launched in 1970, the Land Rover continued to be produced, and was updated to the
Series III in 1971. Changes again were small, with the main difference
being the headlights that were moved outwards to comply with Australian, American and Dutch
regulations. The dashboard was updated, an optional more
comfortable interior trim was introduced, and it finally got synchromesh on all its
forward gears. But British Leyland realised that while the
Land Rover was selling well, it was looking a little long in the tooth. In the early 1970s they started planning for
a low cost and easy to produce replacement. The SD5 concept borrowed heavily from the
Range Rover design, and a test version had temporary Range Rover body panels that would
have been changed before production. But with British Leyland going broke in 1975
and the Land Rover continuing to sell well, selling its one millionth car in 1976, the
project was cancelled. But competition was coming, with the Toyota
Land Cruiser and Nissan Patrol making significant inroads into the 4x4 market in Australasia
and Africa with their more powerful V6-engined cars. And they were easier to get a hold of. Land Rover production was limited, and it
was a long boat ride from the UK, which meant long waiting lists. To remain competitive Land Rover fitted the
V8 from the Range Rover along with its constant 4WD system to give it considerably more torque. And in 1976 Land Rover of Australia launched
the special edition GAME short wheelbase model to fend off the Japanese competition and appeal
to the emerging recreational 4WD market. Lower production quality hit British cars
in the late 1970s, and the Land Rover was seen as underpowered, unreliable, rust-prone
and with poor ride quality compared to its Japanese rivals. Despite offering a 3.9L Isuzu diesel engine,
by 1983 The Toyota Land Cruiser was the number 1 selling 4x4 in Australia. The Land Rover was updated again in 1983,
with the short wheelbase and long wheelbase versions now being known as the 90 and 110,
which was roughly their wheelbase in inches. You wouldn’t think Britain went metric in
the 70’s, would you? The outside was very similar to the Series III, with
a revised front end and taller one-piece windscreen. But the internal changes were significant,
with a more modern interior. The Land Rover also gained coil springs for
an improved ride. However, it retained sliding windows that
would only be upgraded to wind-up windows in 1984. By the early 1980s the Land Rover was being
marketed to new customers that wanted them as sport recreational vehicles, and these
customers demanded a higher level of trim. With the new models’ better ride and better
trim this helped Land Rover take a piece of this growing market. The new 127” wheelbase model was used primarily
by utility companies and the military. It could carry more volume and weight, up
to 1.4 metric tonnes, and was custom made by cutting a 110” chassis in two and welding
17 additional inches in the middle. With the more powerful 3.5L V8 engine this
wasn’t a slow plodding truck like the 1962 Forward Control. The Australian Army needed 1-tonne and 2-tonne
military transports, and Land Rover won the bid in 1987. They were called the “Perentie” after
the Australian giant goanna lizard. The 2-tonne was specially constructed with
6 wheels to spread the additional load. Although sales in Africa, Australasia and
the Middle East continued to decline, sales in the UK and Europe rebounded. Throughout the 1980s the Land Rover engines
were improved, with a new turbo diesel arriving in 1986, and this helped to improve sales. With the Land Rover Discovery’s launch in
1989, management could see the naming of the Land Rover was causing confusion, so it was
renamed to the Land Rover Defender in 1990. The new 200Tdi Discovery engine gave it 25%
more power. With this new engine, the car became much
more refined at high speeds and was better at pulling heavy loads. The Land Rover 127 became the Defender 130
with a dedicated chassis built from scratch, although despite being called the 130 it was
still 127” in length! With the Land Rover Discovery a success, in
1991 a more utilitarian version was developed, dubbed the “Challenger”. It’s not clear if this was to be a Defender
replacement, but with management wanting to consolidate all Land Rovers into one chassis,
this seems likely. Alas, like many prototypes, this one didn’t
come to production. But the Land Rover was starting to show its
age. By 1997 it couldn’t be sold in the USA as
it failed safety regulations. BMW bought Land Rover in 1995, and with the
classic Mini being redesigned for the millennium, Land Rover again thought of updating their
classic 4x4 in 1997. The prototype was dubbed the LCV for Lightweight
Concept Vehicle, and the goal was to produce a more fuel-efficient off roader that could
do 40mpg. The car was developed into the LCV 2/3. But with BMW focusing on getting the Rover
75 and updated Range Rover out the door, something had to give and yet again the Land Rover was
left to solider on without a major update. As the Range Rover and Discovery continued
to move ever upmarket, the Defender also moved upmarket to fill the spot those cars had vacated. This trend was epitomised by the 50th anniversary
90 in 1998, equipped with automatic transmission, air conditioning and the Range Rover’s 4.0-litre
V8 engine. Land Rover of South Africa were let loose
on the Defender, shoehorning a BMW 2.8L 6-cylinder engine into the car in a special project they
completed with BMW. The result was the fastest ever Land Rover
that could get to 60mph in 9.3 seconds. The 200Tdi was updated to the 300Tdi in 1994,
but that itself fell foul of emissions rules by 1998 so was replaced by the more powerful
Td5, again produced in-house. The BMW marriage proved to be an unhappy one. Apart from the MINI, the German company wanted
to be rid of all its British assets, so sold Land Rover to Ford in 2000. The Defender kept on being produced with almost
no changes. Well, except for the 2001 “Tomb Raider”
special edition that let you feel like you were battling baddies like Angelina Jolie! By now it seemed the Land Rover had been forgotten. It got an update in 2007, but only to meet
emissions and safety legislation. With Ford calling the shots it received Ford’s
DuraTorq engines, a new 6-speed gearbox, and there was a new 110 “Utility” model. Those inward facing rear seats had been banned,
so forward-facing seats were used instead. But it did get a new dashboard with instruments
from the Discovery, but you could see the age in other components such as the 1980 Austin
Metro indicator stalk and Morris Marina ignition switch. It’s amazing that Land Rover could still
source these parts after all these years! Ford was in deep financial trouble in the
2008 Great Recession, so Land Rover was sold again, this time to Indian behemoth Tata Motors. With the Defender still selling 25,000 cars
a year in 2011 the company once again looked to produce an all-new update, dubbed the Defender
Concept 100 or DC100. The car was firmly aimed at the leisure off-roading
customer, with cubbies designed specifically for “extreme sports equipment”, whatever
that might be! Maurice Wilks would have been stunned what
his simple farm utility vehicle had become! But it was designed to be affordable, just
like the original car had been, at around £20,000. Land Rover announced the replacement would
arrive in 2015. Christmas 2015 arrived and instead of getting
a new Defender in our stockings, we got a lump of coal. Land Rover announced it was the end of the
line for the Defender due to escalating safety regulations and a changing marketplace. After Land Rover announced it had sold the
2 millionth Defender in late 2015, the last one rolled off the production line in January
2016. Land Rover gave the die-hard Defender fans
a ray of sunshine in 2018 when they sold 150 special edition V8 Defenders to mark the Land
Rover’s 70th anniversary. Like Monty Python’s parrot it seems the
Land Rover wasn’t pining. It had kicked the bucket, gone to meet it’s
maker, shuffled off the mortal coil and was pushing up the daisies. But then something truly remarkable happened. Late in 2018 Land Rover teased photos of a
new Defender. It seems they were still working on that 2011
DC100 prototype, and it would soon be ready for release! The 2020 Defender starts a new chapter in
the Land Rover’s history, and they’ve even produced a Lego model as a tie-in, the
car that’s been sitting over my right shoulder all this time. It was a lot of fun building it, and if you
want your own, there are affiliate links in the description. The 2020 Defender continues the tradition
of the go-anywhere 4x4 started when Maurice Wilks drew his first idea in the sand. It’s a car that helped Rover get through
the lean post war years, and it carried people and supplies to places they never have got
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