History
Introduced to fill the gap between the luxurious Range Rover and the utilitarian Landrover, prototypes began been developed in 1986 and although technically not fully tested it went into production in 1989.

Aimed at the family market the Discovery boasted the best-in-class for off road ability, a comfortable ride, an interior designed by Sir Terrence Conran and an improved diesel engine giving impressive economy. Many parts had came straight from the Range Rover including the chassis, coil suspension, full time 4 wheel drive transmission and the engines. A transfer case with lockable centre differential was used.

The vehicle featured a single side-hung rear door and a stepped roof made from pressed steel, the other body panels were aluminium. The early versions were plagued by a host of problems which meant headaches and trips back to dealers for many owners. Timing belt problems were one of these early issues with the 300Tdi engines.

A commercial vehicle was also available, this vehicle is based on a standard 2 door model but has a modified hard-top with blanked out rear side windows.

An update to the range in 1996 saw headlight washers, air con, air bags and ABS become standard. The Conran designed interior had also dated and was revised with a new dash, bigger alloy wheels became available as an option, the Discovery II followed soon after in 1998.

Vantagefields custom specialists produced a cabriolet version of the discovery which looked very smart although only a handfull were sold.