When the first Land Rover was offered in Land Rover dealers on 30 April 1948 by the Rover Company, there was no initial intention to diversify the models. Created as a single model, the company developed over time into a separate marque of Rover and then its own company by 1967, changing hands several times from the Leyland Motor Corporation to Tata Motors today.
Although Rover may not have intended to create a range of different models, this changed drastically over the coming decades and in the UK, excluding military vehicles, there are 4 primary models that most will have seen on British Roads.
1. Range Rover. First produced in 1970 as the Range Rover Classic, this model of Land Rover is widely regarded as being the most popular in its entire range. The reason for this popularity is largely due to its multi-purpose, as not only is it a suitable off-road vehicle, but it is a particularly comfortable on-road drive, something which the company realised in the early 1990s. Seeing the popularity of the Range Rover in use as a large family car, the introduction of the second generation Range Rover came in 1994 which was aimed to be more comfortable and then a more luxurious version once again was introduced in 2002, under the management of BMW
Buying a new Range Rover from Land Rover dealers today will mean that you are purchasing the most expensive Land Rover model and you can expect to pay up to 100,000 pounds, depending on the additional accessories that you wish to have included.
2. Defender. Although many may see the Defender on public roads, primarily because of somewhat of a cult following, the Defender (a development on the first Land Rover Series 1 models) was and still is designed to be a light utility vehicle for use with the military, industry and agriculture.
Starting production in 1983 as the Land Rover Ninety and One Ten (to reflect the wheel base length), the engines ranged from a 2.3 litre petrol with 75bhp to a 3.5 litre V8 petrol with 134bhp, until 1990, when Land Rover changed the names to Defender and released a substantial 3.8 litre V8.
3. Freelander. Packaged as a compact 4x4, the Freelander entered production in 1996 and although had its uses off-road, was going to be used mainly as an SUV or MPV. Seeing a reserved engine of between a 1.8 and 2.5 litre fitted with the cars, the first generation Freelander was available in a 3 door convertible model and 5 door hard top.
With the second generation entering production in 2007, there are now simply 2 engine choices; a 2.2 or 3.2 litre and a 6 speed gear box, available in both manual and automatic transmissions.
4. Discovery. Since production first began in 1989 (with a choice of, amongst 5 other options, a large 4 litre engine), the Discovery has been amended several times, now leading us into the fourth generation models that began production in 2009.
What is interesting about the Discovery is that in an attempt to make it a more affordable version of the Range Rover, they wanted to make it more sought after and employed the consultancy firm Conran Design Group to develop the interior, giving them the brief of ignoring all current trends and producing an interior that would make the car a lifestyle accessory.
Author Resource:-
Jardine Motors Group UK operates a large portfolio of specialist franchises of the world's most prestigious marques, including Land Rover dealers.
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