The Story Started Here... by debbielove

Photography • Transportation • posted on Jul 24, 2016

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Description

As you walk into the Heritage Car Museum, the very first item you see is this.. The is the first PRE-PRODUCTION Series I Land Rover.. Created even before production rolled.. In the late 1940's Maurice and Spencer Wilkes were gazing at their Willis Jeep and thought they could do better.. The Series I was designed using as little sheet metal as possible and Aluminium instead as Wartime shortages were still in force.. It was to be built at Solihull a Wartime Shadow Factory and planned as a stopgap vehicle.. Within a year it was outselling everything Rover cars was making.. Production increased year in, year out.. It has never been out of production since.. This was sold to a Farmer (who no doubt used it far beyond anything planned lol) and was still intact to be able to come back here.. The Defender of today still looks very much like this.. If it ain't broke...... Rob

Comments (6)

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blinkings

6:44AM | Sun, 24 July 2016

A pure classic in the 'pure' sense of the word mate. Andrew

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Faemike55

9:18AM | Sun, 24 July 2016

WOW! Stunning restoration of this classic

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Maxidyne

5:30AM | Mon, 25 July 2016

Awesome mate, the earliest one I ever drove was a Series II. As you say still basically the same, the biggest change was going from leaf springs to coils which increased the comfort no end.

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Buffalo1

11:15AM | Mon, 25 July 2016

The Granddaddy of 'em all and still looking like it go for another 50,000 miles.

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tallpindo

11:32AM | Sat, 30 July 2016

Where was aluminum available in such quantity as to be abundant beyond the supply of iron? Norway and the fjords? Indonesian bauxite? It surely wasn't from the dams from Bonneville and Grand Coulee, was it? Yanks don't get this.

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