Land Rover marked its 70th anniversary this week, celebrating what it describes as the world’s favourite 4x4.
It was 70 years ago on Tuesday that the first Land Rover made its debut at the Amsterdam Motor Show, and the company says that since then more than 7 million Land Rovers have been sold.
It all began with what has become the iconic original four-wheel-drive model.
“Today our family of SUVs is testament to the pioneering spirit of innovation that has characterised Land Rover for seven decades,” said the Jaguar Land Rover chief executive, Professor Dr Ralf Speth.
“Our family of Defender, Discovery and Range Rover models provides unrivalled capability, versatility and luxury, giving us the perfect foundation for another 70 years of success.”
Land Rover was, he said, so much more than the most capable all-terrain vehicles, but connected people through a passion for adventure.
“From our employees to customers and enthusiasts, this is a family that makes Land Rover special.”
A vehicle line-up including HUE: the first prototype Land Rover, the original two-door Range Rover and the seven-seater Discovery, as well as expedition-proven models from across the decades, are to share the stage at the Land Rover Classic Works in Coventry.
The current range, including the Range Rover Evoque and Velar SUVs, will feature in a video celebrating Land Rover’s status as a favourite among celebrities, politicians and royalty.
In January, the marque revealed plans to sympathetically renovate the world’s most historically significant unrestored model — one of three pre-production cars from the original Amsterdam launch.
It will take the stage alongside its closest modern relative — the 405PS Defender Works V8 revealed earlier this year.
Only 150 of the powerful 70th edition models will be produced, and each of the specially engineered V8 derivatives wouldwill be built by Land Rover Classic’s team of expert engineers.
Timeline
1948 Series I launched at Amsterdam Motor Show
1953 Long Wheelbase version of the Series I introduced
1958 Series II unveiled with more refined design
1970 Original two-door Range Rover (the Classic) goes on sale
1971 Series III launched
1976 Millionth Land Rover built
1979 A Range Rover wins the inaugural Paris-Dakar rally (and again in 1981)
1981 Four-door Range Rover released
1989 Discovery, the third Land Rover model, goes on sale
1990 Original ‘Landie’ relaunched and renamed Defender
1994 Second generation Range Rover launched
2001 Third-generation Range Rover with all-round independent air suspension
2006 Freelander 2/LR2 launched. The first Land Rover to be manufactured at Halewood
2007 LRX concept car previews design language of a new luxury compact SUV
2009 Fourth generation of the Discovery introduced
2010 Range Rover Evoque, the world’s first luxury compact SUV, makes global debut
2012 Fourth-generation Range Rover introduced — the first all-aluminium SUV
2013 New generation of Range Rover Sport unveiled at New York Motor Show
2015 Evoque Convertible becomes world’s first luxury compact SUV convertible
2016 Last Defender rolls off the production line
2017 Fourth Range Rover, the Velar launched
2018 Limited Edition Range Rover SV Coupé debuts at Geneva Motor Show