#Land rover range rover series

The transition to BMW ownership only just preceded introduction of the second generation Range Rover, prior to launching Land Rover's first unibody model, the Freelander in 1997. In 2000, Rover Group was broken up by BMW and Land Rover was sold on to Ford Motor Company, becoming part of its Premier Automotive Group. On 31 January 1994, Rover Group plc, including Land Rover, was acquired by BMW.

#Land rover range rover series

The ongoing commercial success of the original Land Rover series models, and latterly the Range Rover in the 1970s in the midst of BL's well-documented business troubles prompted the establishment of a separate Land Rover company but still under the BL umbrella, remaining part of the subsequent Rover Group in 1988, under the ownership of British Aerospace after the remains of British Leyland were broken up and privatised. Prior to this, it was a product line of the Rover Company which was subsequently absorbed into the Rover-Triumph division of the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BL) following Leyland Motor Corporation's takeover of Rover in 1967. Land Rover as a company has existed since 1978. Early vehicles like the Series I were field-tested at Long Bennington and designed to be field-serviced.Īfter the formation of Land Rover Limited in 1978 the hyphen in Land-Rover -as shown in the logo- began to be dropped. Starting with the series I Land Rover, all models in this era featured sturdy box-section ladder-frame chassis. The early choice of colour was dictated by military surplus supplies of aircraft cockpit paint, so early vehicles only came in various shades of light green. The design may have been influenced by the Jeep and the prototype, later nicknamed Centre Steer, was built on a Jeep chassis and axles. Wilks, chief designer at the Rover Company, on his farm in Newborough, Anglesey, working in conjunction with his brother Spencer who was the managing director of Rover. The design for the original vehicle was started in 1947 by Maurice Wilks. Land Rover conversion to fight forest fires, Cascina, Italy (August 2016) In 19, the long and the short wheelbase Land Rovers were finally given official names – the One Ten, and the Ninety respectively, and together they were badged the Defender models in 1990, after the 1989 introduction of the new Discovery model. The Range Rover was introduced in 1970, and the company became a British Leyland subsidiary in 1978. As 'Land Rover' became established as a brand, the 'Series' indication later became a retronym model name.

Originally, these vehicles were simply called the 'Land Rover' – an off-road capable car model of the Rover Company.

The 2WD Freelander has been succeeded by a 2WD Discovery Sport, available in some markets. Since 2010, Land Rover have also introduced two-wheel drive variants, both of the Freelander, and of the Evoque, after having built exclusively 4WD cars for 62 years. Since then all Land Rovers and Range Rovers have a unified body and frame structure. Land Rover used boxed frames in a direct product bloodline until the termination of the original Defender in 2016 and their last body-on-frame model was replaced by a monocoque with the third generation Discovery in 2017. Starting with the much more upmarket 1970 Range Rover, and subsequent introductions of the mid-range Discovery and entry-level Freelander line (in 19), as well as the 1990 Land Rover Defender refresh, the marque today includes two models of Discovery, four distinct models of Range Rover, and after a three-year hiatus, a second generation of Defenders have gone into production for the 2020 model year-in short or long wheelbase, as before.įor half a century (from the original 1948 model, through 1997, when the Freelander was introduced), Land Rovers and Range Rovers exclusively relied on their trademark boxed-section vehicle frames. Over time, Land Rover grew into its own brand (and for a while also a company), encompassing a consistently growing range of four-wheel drive, off-road capable models. Land Rover was granted a Royal Warrant by King George VI in 1951, and 50 years later, in 2001, it received a Queen's Award for Enterprise for outstanding contribution to international trade. The Land Rover name was created in 1948 by the Rover Company for a utilitarian 4WD off-roader yet today Land Rover vehicles comprise solely upmarket and luxury sport utility cars. JLR currently builds Land Rovers in Brazil, China, India, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom. Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors.