Like Land Rovers current MD, Tony Gilroy, Spencer Wilks did not like what he saw when he took over , and set about redirecting, adopting a policy of ‘ Quality First’ which ultimately dictated limited production. The credo worked, seen in consistently improving sales records. Rover, at this stage, had nothing other than passenger cars in its sales brochures.
Well, the story goes, Spencer Wilks’ brother Maurice had a house and 250 acres of farming land in North Wales, on the island of Anglesey. In the course of his farm work, he’d used both a Ford V8 engined half-track and also a war surplus Jeep. The Jeep had proved more satisfactory for his purposes. Supposedly, when Spencer asked Maurice what he would do when the Jeep gave up the ghost, Maurice replied,” Buy another one I suppose. There isn’t anything else left “. And so the Land Rover was born.
It’s a nice story , but it’s wrong.
There were plenty of other alternatives. Practically all countries involved in WW2 had evolved or purloined workable 4X4 designs. But most of the other countries which had developed equally good 4X4’s over the war years simply could not export afterwards because, as beaten foes, they did not have the facilities or export provisions to do so. Russia, with GAZ units admittedly based on the Jeep, flew headlong from the hot war into the cold war with the West. Japan, although its Kurogane 4X4 was a 1932 design, was in no position to argue an export contract with McArthurs occupation forces. Germany, with both the Kubelwagen and the Mercedes Benz armoured 4X4 – excellent vehicles in the field – was in no position to bargain either. And the Czechs, with the tatra 4X4’s , as Axis pact allies, really don’t have a league to stand on . And so it went on with all the also rans of WW2.
Britain, safely ensconced with an empire which had become a Commonwealth, had a ready made market poised to accept reminders of WW2, as well as legacies like the Land Rover. Much is made of the fact that Land Rovers, with aluminium panels, do not rust. They do. But in a different chemical way. White rust defeats endrust in the end. The hard economic climate that was Britain after the war was heavily in debt and faced with the prospect of years of austerity . Industry was geared up to export anything that could help bolster the pound sterling. With steel at a premium, aluminium alloy was used to produce the first Land Rover; a vehicle Maurice Wilks saw as a ‘ stopgap measure ‘ to aid Britains post-war economic growth. Such was not to be.
Wilks idea was that the Land Rover concept be based around that of the Jeep, but be much more useful to the farmer. To this end, the track was two inches wider ( using Rover’s existing P3 axle ) and the gearbox became a four speed against the Jeeps three speed. In addition, low range ratio was lower than the Jeeps at 2.52:1 as against 1.97:1
Power was derived from Rover's P3 engine, a four cylinder 1.6 litre overhead inlet valve, side exhaust valve unit with a 69.5mm bore and 105mm stroke . As you see, it was a long stroking motor developing plenty of low down torque , but a wee bit lazy in top end power. What’s more interesting is that where the jeep ,offered selective four wheel drive, the original series one Land Rover , like the 110 of today, was in permanent four wheel drive. Transmission wind up on smooth surfaces was avoided by a freewheel situated between the transfer case and the front prop shaft.
Eight thousand Land Rovers were built in 1948-49, and proved extremely popular , witnessed by the fact that following year, production had to be doubled. It’s real strength lay in versatility. With both center and rear PTO options its flexibility appealed to all groups which wanted a true workhorse, from farmers to contractors to Government bodies and, of course, the military. Over the years, the Land Rover saw life in many variants, from steel wheeled vehicles used on railway tracks , to fully tracked army bomb disposal units. There was even a hovercraft version used by an English agricultural agency ! And of course, the Land Rover itself changed over the years . We’ll touch on the more important alterations later.The most remarkable thing about the original Land Rover was that the Wilks brothers insisted on absolute minimum tooling . On the mechanical side, everything was to be an existing rover car component. The reason for the Land Rovers distinctive shape was that panels which could not be formed by simple bending or folding were just not used, for no money at all was spent on press tools. The chassis is another case in point. Instead of building it to the more conventional ( but more expensive ) method of jig-built, fully welded U - section pressings, the original Land Rover , like today’s, was box section, made up of four plates. An engineer called Oalf Poppe, head of planning, came up with this four plate, continuous weld chassis, which was fairly adventurous on 1947-48. So, from humble, even hesitant beginnings, the ‘workhorse of the world’ was born. |
