Land Rover Series

The Land Rover Series I, II, and III (commonly referred to as "Series" Land Rovers, to distinguish them from later models) are off-road vehicles produced by the British manufacturer Land Rover that were inspired by the US-built Willys Jeep. In 1992 Land Rover claimed that 70% of all the vehicles they had ever built were still in use.

Series models feature leaf-sprung suspension with selectable two or four-wheel drive, the Stage 1 featured permanent 4WD. All 3 models could be started with a front hand crank and had a rear power takeoff for accessories.

Development

The Land Rover was conceived by the Rover Company in 1947 during the aftermath of World War II. Before the war Rover had produced luxury cars which were not in demand in the immediate post-war period and raw materials were strictly rationed to those companies building construction or industrial equipment, or products that could be widely exported to earn crucial foreign exchange for the country. Also, Rover's original factory in Coventry had been bombed during the war, forcing the company to move into a huge "shadow factory" it had built during the war in Solihull near Birmingham to construct aircraft. This factory was now empty but starting car production there from scratch would not be financially viable. Plans for a small, economical car known as the M Type were drawn up, and a few prototypes made, but would be too expensive to produce.

Maurice Wilks, Rover's chief designer came up with a plan...
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