Have you ever seen sketches for car designs drawn in sand on a beach? It may not seem like the ideal place but that’s exactly what happened with the initial sketches for the Land Rover. Spencer and Maurice Wilks were brothers who sketched out a design on a beach in Wales and subsequently developed a 4×4 vehicle in Wales back in the 1940s. The first Land Rover was presented at the Amsterdam Motor Show in 1948 as the “farmer’s friend.” Land Rovers are now one of the most sought after vehicles worldwide. Travall was the first company to make a dog guard for Land Rover and because of this we have a particular soft spot for this brand. To continue our series of fun manufacturer facts we’ve put together some snippets of information about Land Rover that you may not have known.
Did you know?
In 1978 the Land Rover company was founded.
The first Land Rover was not right-hand or left-hand drive. The steering wheel was in the middle.
Charles S King, one of the Land Rover’s designers had previously worked with jet engines at Rolls Royce in Derby. He was also the nephew of the Wilks brothers.
The Land Rover Defender 110 (named because of its 110” wheelbase) could fit 12 people. This meant it was technically a bus and consequently it made the vehicle exempt from passenger vehicle taxes.
Many big automotive brands have owned Land Rover. These include BMW and Ford. Land Rover is currently owned by Tata under the Jaguar Land Rover umbrella. Their headquarters are in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
In the mid 1950s, Land Rover used to provide Oxbridge students with vehicles to race across entire continents.
Tank treads used to be a factory option for Land Rover vehicles?
Land Rover was the first automotive brand for which Travall produced a dog guard. The dog guard for Land Rover was such a successful product that it spurred the development of dog guards for even more brands of vehicles. The range of vehicle-specific accessories for Land Rover is vast, including Travall Guards (dog guard for Land Rover), Travall Dividers (boot dividers for Land Rover), Travall Mats (rubber mats for Land Rover) and Travall Liners (boot mats for Land Rover). Alfie Bear, A Blog for the Dapper Dog recently did a review of the dog guard for Land Rover and the Travall Liner too. Why not take a look to see what they think of the Travall products?
The Land Rover Discovery has parts from other Rover Group vehicles on it. Examples include Montego switches and Maestro Van light clusters.
Winston Churchill was the proud owner of a Land Rover, boasting an extra wide passenger seat and heated footwells. The license plate was UKE80 because it marked his 80th birthday.
