The Land Rover was conceived by the Rover CompanyĀ in 1947 during the aftermath ofĀ World War II. Before the war Rover had produced luxury cars but these were no longer in demand after the war. Roverās original factory inĀ CoventryĀ had been bombed during the war, forcing the company to move into a huge factory built just before the war inĀ SolihullĀ nearĀ Birmingham. This factory was now empty but starting car production there from scratch would not be financially viable.
Maurice Wilks, Rover's chief designer came up with a plan to produce a light agricultural andĀ utility vehicle, of a similar concept to theĀ Willys JeepĀ used in the war, but with an emphasis on agricultural use. He was inspired by his own experience of using an army-surplus Jeep on his farm inĀ Anglesey, North Wales. His design added aĀ power take-offĀ (PTO) feature since there was a gap in the market between jeeps and tractors (which offered the feature but were less flexible as transport).
The first prototype had a distinctive feature: Ā the steering wheel was mounted in the middle of the vehicle. It hence became known as the "centre steer". It was built on a Jeep chassis and used the engine and gearbox out of aĀ Rover P3Ā saloon car. The bodywork was handmade out of an aluminium/magnesium alloy called Birmabright, to save on steel, which was closely rationed. The choice of colour was dictated byĀ military surplusĀ supplies of aircraft cockpit paint, so early vehicles only came in various shades of light green.
Land Rover Centre Steer
The Land Rover was designed to only be in production for two or three years to gain some cash flow and export orders for the Rover Company so it could restart luxury car production. Once car production restarted, however, it was greatly outsold by the off-road Land Rover, which developed into its own brand that remains successful today. frame.
Land Rover entered production in 1948 with what has later been termed theĀ Series I. This was launched at theĀ AmsterdamĀ Motor Show. It was designed for farm and light industrial use, with a steel box-sectionĀ chassisĀ and an aluminium body.
Land Rover at the AutoRai in Amsterdam
The successor to the Series I was theĀ Series II, which saw a production run from 1958 to 1961. It came in 88Ā Inch and 109Ā Inch wheelbases (normally referred to as the 'SWB' and 'LWB'). This was the first Land Rover to receive the attention of Rover's styling department.
The series III saw many changes in the later part of its life as Land Rover updated the design to meet increased competition. This was the first model to featureĀ synchromeshĀ on all four gears, although some late H-suffix SIIA models (mainly the more expensive Station Wagons) had used the all-synchro box. In keeping with early 1970s trends in automotive interior design, both in safety and use of more advanced materials, the simple metal dashboard of earlier models was redesigned to accept a new moulded plastic dash. The instrument cluster, which was previously centrally located, was moved to the driver's side.
TheĀ Land Rover DefenderĀ (initially introduced as theĀ Land Rover 110Ā /Ā One Ten in 1983) was developed in the 1980s from the originalĀ Land Rover series. Though the Defender was not a new generation design, it incorporated significant changes, compared to the series Land Rovers, such as coil springs front and rear, as opposed to all leaf springs on the previous springs on high capacity. Coil springs offered both better ride quality and improved axle articulation. Adding a lockable center differential to the transfer case gave the Defender permanent (on-road) four-wheel-drive capability. Both changes were derived from the Range Rover, and the interiors were also modernized.
Land Rover Defender
Externally, a full-length bonnet and full-width integrated grille and headlights, a single-piece windscreen, plus widened wheel arches that covered new, wider-track axles were the most noticeable changes. While the engine was initially carried over from the Series III, a new series of modern and more powerful engines was progressively introduced.
EZ Electric Power Steering and Land Rover
EZ Power Steering produces power steering kits for the Series and Defender models. Because the Series models have a one piece steering column (without a U-joint or hardy disc) our company supplies these kits with a new worm and sector, bearings and gasket, so that the original steering box can be overhauled and the installer does not need to cut or weld his original steering column.