Land Rover

Land Rover is a British all-terrain vehicle and Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) manufacturer, based in Gaydon, England, UK. Originally the term Land Rover referred to one specific vehicle, a pioneering civilian all-terrain utility vehicle launched on April 30, 1948, at the Amsterdam Motor Show, but was later used as a brand for several distinct models, all four-wheel drive. Starting out as part of The Rover Car Company or Rover, Land Rovers were designed and manufactured as a range of four-wheel drive vehicles under a succession of owners, including British Leyland, British Aerospace and BMW. Today, the marque is part of the Premier Automotive Group, a division of the Ford Motor Company. Land Rover is one of the longest lived SUV brands (the only brand which is older is the Jeep).

Ford is currently considering divesting all three Premier units, with India's Tata Motors being the front-runner in the race to acquire one of the world's most prestigious automotive marques.

Manufacturing & Business

Land Rovers are manufactured primarily at the Solihull plant, near Birmingham, England. Production of the "Freelander 2" has moved recently to the Jaguar car factory at Halewood near Liverpool, a former Ford car plant. Defender models are assembled under license in several locations worldwide, including Brazil and Turkey. The former BL/Rover Group technical centre at Gaydon in Warwickshire is home to the Land Rover corporate and R&D headquarters.

Ongoing Sale

On 11 June 2007, Ford announced that it planned to sell Land Rover, along with Jaguar. Ford is retaining the services of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC to advise it on the details of the deal. The buyer, possibly to a private equity group, was initially expected to be announced by September 2007, but the sale was delayed and an announcement shall not be made until the end of 2007. A UK based private equity firm, Alchemy Partners, besides Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra (both from India) have expressed interest in purchasing Jaguar and Land Rover from the Ford Motor Company.

Before the sale was announced, Anthony Bamford, chairman of British excavators manufacturer JCB had expressed interest in purchasing Jaguar Cars in August, the year previously;only to back out later when told the sale would also involve Land Rover, who he did not intend to buy.Tata Motors have received endorsements from the Transport And General Worker's Union (TGWU)-Amicus combine and Ford as a preferred bidder.

History

The first Land Rover was designed in 1947 in the United Kingdom (on the island of Anglesey in Wales) by Maurice Wilks, chief designer at the British car company Rover on his farm in Newborough, Anglesey. It is said that he was inspired by an American World War II Jeep that he used one summer at his holiday home in Wales. The first Land Rover prototype 'centre steer' was built on a Jeep chassis. A distinctive feature is their bodies, constructed of a lightweight rustproof proprietary alloy of aluminium and magnesium called Birmabright. This material was used owing to post war steel shortages and a plentiful supply of post-war aircraft aluminium. This metal's resistance to corrosion was one of the factors that allowed the vehicle to build up a reputation for longevity in the toughest conditions.

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; all models until recently feature sturdy box section ladder-frame chassis. The early vehicles, such as the Series I, were field-tested at Long Bennington and designed to be field-serviced; advertisements for Rovers cite vehicles driven thousands of miles on banana oil. Now with more complex service requirements this is less of an option. The British Army maintains the use of the mechanically simple 2.5 litre 4 cylinder 300TDi engined versions rather than the electronically controlled 2.5 litre 5 cylinder TD5 to retain some servicing simplicity. This engine also continued in use in some export markets using units built at a Ford plant in Brazil, where Land Rovers were built under license and the engine was also used in Ford pick-up trucks built locally. Production of the TDi engine ended here in 2006, meaning that Land Rover no longer offers it as an option. International Motors of Brazil offer an engine called the 2.8 TGV Power Torque, which is essentially a 2.8-litre version of the 300TDi, with a corresponding increase in power and torque. Since its purchase by Ford, Land Rover has been closely associated with Jaguar. In many countries they share a common sales and distribution network (including shared dealerships), and some models now share components and production facilities.

Challenge of Japanese makes

Since the 1970s, in remote areas of Africa, South America, Asia and the Australian Outback, the somewhat similar Nissan Patrol (which was the first 4x4 other than the Range Rover to adopt coil springs at thr front and rear) and Mitsubishi Pajero (also known as Shogun in the UK and Montero in other markets) have overtaken the Land Rover as the utility 4x4 of choice, partly because of the better support network and reputation for reliability. In Australia at least, pricing is now actually comparable or in favour of the Land Rover, due to the shorter supply chain. Another reason seems to be the 'leadfoot' factor - the workhorse Toyota models tend to have larger engines than the comparable Land Rover models. In Britain, the Land Rover fell from favour with the farming community with the arrival of less expensive Japanese alternatives, with Daihatsu Fourtracks, Isuzu Troopers and Mitsubishi Pajeros becoming a common sight on farms around the country, until rust eventually ended their working lives. However, with subtle improvements to the Defender in the early 1990s, and with the introduction of better, more reliable engines in the form of the TDi and the five-cylinder TD5, many farms once again have a Land Rover Defender in their drive.

Models

Series I, II and III - the original off-roader

Defender - Updated Series line, with a move from extreme utilitarianism.

Freelander 2 - compact crossover 4x4, the second generation of which is known as the LR2 in North America.

Discovery 3 - full-size off-roader Range Rover - full-size luxury off-roader

Range Rover Classic - the original Range Rover, produced from 1970 to 1996

Range Rover Sport - full-size luxury crossover 4x4

There have also been models developed for the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD)

101 Forward Control - also known as the "Land Rover One Tonne"

1/2 ton Lightweight - airportable military short wheelbase from the Series 2a

Land Rover Wolf - an uprated Military Defender

SNATCH landrover - Land Rover with composite armoured body in UK Armed Forces Service

109 Series IIa and III ambulance (body by Marshalls of Cambridge)

Range Rover 6x4 Fire Appliance (conversion by Carmichael and Sons of Worcester) for RAF airfield use

130 Defender ambulance Current models

2008 UK Land Rover Model Line-up

Model Type Price Range

Land Rover Freelander SUV £25,935 - £33,990

Land Rover Defender Off-Roader £22,480 - £28,495

Land Rover Discovery 4x4 £28,915 - £48,720

Range Rover Sport SUV £35,665 - £63,225

Range Rover 4x4 £59,100 - £84,900

2008 US Land Rover Model Line-up

Model Type Price Range

Land Rover LR2 4x4 $38,000- $43,050

Land Rover LR3 4x4 $50,000 - $58,000

Range Rover Sport 4x4 $60,500 - $79,200

Range Rover 4x4 $81,850 - $145,000

At the 2004 North American International Auto Show, Land Rover introduced its first concept, the Range Stormer (Gritzinger, 2004). A "green" concept known as Land e was also recently shown.

Military use

Since the very beginning all Series and Defender models have been used in a military capacity. Often this has entailed just slightly modifying civilian models (primarily adding military "blackout" lights), but some dedicated military models have also been developed such as the forward control and the lightweight. The Discovery has also been used in small numbers, mostly as liaison vehicles. Two models that have been designed for military use from the ground up are the 101 Forward Control from the early 1970s and the Lightweight or Airportable from the late 1960s. The latter was intended to be transported by helicopter. The famous Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service (United Kingdom) teams were early users in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and their convoys of landrovers and larger military trucks are a sight often seen in the mountain areas of the United Kingdom. Originally RAFMRS Land Rovers had blue bodies and bright yellow tops, to be better seen from above. In 1981, the colour scheme was changed to green with yellow stripes. More recently, vehicles have been painted white, and are issued with fittings similar to civilian UK Mountain Rescue teams. The teams have recently been threatened with replacement of their beloved Land Rovers by Toyota 4 x 4 SUV-style vehicles.

Military modifications include 24 Volt electrics, convoy lights, electronic suppression of the ignition system, blackout curtains and mounts for special equipment and small arms.

Military uses include light utility vehicle, communications platform, weapon platform for recoilless rifles, TOWs or machine guns, ambulances and workshops.

One famous adaptation of Land Rovers to military purposes is the "Pink Panther" models. Approximately 100 Series IIAs were adapted to reconnaissance use by the British special operations forces the SAS. For desert use they were often painted pink, hence the name. The vehicles were fitted with among other gear a sun compass, machine guns, larger fuel tanks and smoke dischargers. Similar adaptations were later made to Series IIIs and 90/110/Defenders.

The 75th Ranger Regiment of the United States Army also adapted twelve versions of the Land Rover that were officially designated the RSOV (Ranger Special Operations Vehicle.)

Series and Defenders have also been uparmoured. The most widespread of these is the Shorts Shorland, built by Shorts Brothers of Belfast. The first of these were delivered in 1965 to the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force. They were originally 109" models with an armoured body and a turret from the Ferret armoured car. In 1990 there had been more than 1,000 produced.In the 1970s a more conventional armoured Land Rover was built for the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Wales called the Hotspur. The Land Rover Tangi was built by the Royal Ulster Constabulary's own vehicle engineering team during the 1990s. The British Army has used various armoured Land Rovers, first in Northern Ireland but also in more recent campaigns. They first added protective panels to Series General Service vehicles (the Vehicle Protection Kit (VPK)). Later they procured the Glover Webb APV and finally the Courtaulds (later NP Aerospace) Composite Armoured Vehicle, commonly known as Snatch. These were originally based on heavy duty V8 110 chassis but some have recently been re-mounted on new chassis from Otokar of Turkey and fitted with diesel engines and air-conditioning for Iraq. Although these now have more in common with the 'Wolf' (Defender XD) Land Rovers that many mistakenly confuse them with, the Snatch and the Wolf are different vehicles.

The most radical conversion of a Land Rover for military purposes was the Centaur halftrack. It was based on a Series III with a V8 engine and a shortened belt drive from the Alvis Scorpion light tank. A small number was manufactured, and they were used by Ghana, among others.

The Land Rover is used by military forces throughout the world. However, it is increasingly being supplemented, and even replaced, by larger vehicles. For instance the Pinzgauer, now built in the UK, is increasingly common in roles previously the preserve of the Land Rover Defender, such as ambulances, artillery tractors and weapons platforms. This is mainly due to the demands of modern warfare- combat vehicles today are generally required to carry much more equipment in the form of weaponry, communications equipment and armour. A 'soft' light 4x4 like the traditional Land Rover simply doesn't have the load capacity or strength of a larger medium-duty vehicle like the Pinzgauer. Even the current generation of Land Rover used by the British Army, the Wolf, have upgraded and strengthened chassis and suspension compared to civilian-spec vehicles.

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