1950 Landrover News Article

[chris1983rangie]

Here i have attached an article from the
"Australian Monthly Motor Manual - April, 1950"

http://www.scribd.com/full/15984723?access_key=key-2ef05nj5xajx4zif3dmi

enjoy,


Chris.;)

[rainman]

Good stuff Chris! Now I want one. ;)

[JDNSW]

Where did you find that? Interesting that the view of the interior (using the term loosely) shows a LHD model!

John

[chris1983rangie]

yeah i also noticed the last pic is a LHD unit.
This article was given to me by the fella i bought my 80" from.

cheers,

Chris

[bobslandies]

Where did you find that? Interesting that the view of the interior (using the term loosely) shows a LHD model!

John

HAC380 is actually a pre-production 80" left hand drive, so is one of the first forty eight made.
You can tell by looking at the tailgate hinge and locking brackets. Completely different to production vehicles.

English rego HAC379 is a rhd pre-pro R32 now owned by the Houbens in Holland. Can't id this one but MB (260AC) probably could.

Bob

[bobslandies]

The one in the advert shown on Mr L Richardson's Garfield property is Victorian Reg NO234.

It is a post Serial No 860730 1948 model three seater fitted with Rear PTO and belt drive and interestingly seems in some photos to have a canvas ute cab rather than a full softtop.
"N" Registration puts it as generally late 1948 -early 1949 I understand.

That advert and similar ones ran for years in many newspapers promoting Land Rover's Victorian, Riverina and Tasmanian Distributors Regent Motors.

Bob

[series1buff]

"N" Registration puts it as generally late 1948 -early 1949 I understand.


Bob

Yes , that's correct .They were up to the N prefix by then.. My 1946 Dodge ute was J prefix . BTW many restorers make the mistake of painting a white border on their original Victorian two letter plates , this is incorrect because, as issued, there was NO white border painted in the plates .. thay were overall black, with white letters only, and the vertical VIC was white .

[bobslandies]

Tailgate

If you watch this recently posted film clip:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/series-i-land-rover-enthusiasts-section/80598-vids-showing-s1-land-rovers.html#post989870 you will see two pre-productions at least and their tailgates.
JRW67 and HNX331 (actually R16).

Bob

[LRO53]

Also in that video GWD431 is L03, 3671UE is L09 and HNX444 is actually R14... So 5 pre pros being thrashed up a hill love it!

[260AC]

HAC380 is actually a pre-production 80" left hand drive, so is one of the first forty eight made.
You can tell by looking at the tailgate hinge and locking brackets. Completely different to production vehicles.

English rego HAC379 is a rhd pre-pro R32 now owned by the Houbens in Holland. Can't id this one but MB (260AC) probably could.

Bob

HAC 380 is pre pro L31. It and R32 were used extensively by the National Institute of Agricultral Engineering for testing in 1948. Not much is known about L31 except that she was dismatled after testing and believed to have been reassembled. The original engine of L31 did turn up though about ten years ago.

[LRO53]

LOOK, Chris rangie's 80 and article are now world famous

http://abcentral.zapto.org/scan0002.jpg

[260AC]

Hi, I just wanted to say having stichted this article together for the LR Register 48 to 53's mag 'Full Grille'. Glad to see some of you liked it. I was great to see something of this quality come from back in Melborune especially as for the LROCV I used to write the 'Series 1 page for back in the early 1990's, but really all the credit needs to goto Chris for posting it here.

They love all this kind of crazy, 'Just by chance we found out' stuff in England and the UK. The Register has just got Paypal if you would like to join. Jump onto the S1 club forum and there is a thread there or just ask Willerby. I have been a member since 1992 and am currently on the committee and the editorial team so it won't ever all be just 'pommy stuff'

I have written for 'Full Grille' now on and off since about 1995 and we are certainly on a roll at the moment with the Arthur Goddard, Rover Assitant Chief Engineer, 1948 to 1956 interviews going really well and opening up a huge amount of new info. Everyone thought when Barton passed on the whole team had left. Not so.

One really cool part in all this was I called Land Rover's own Publicity Dept which covers history and told them who we had found. So to cut to the chase a week later I having a cup of tea with Spen King. Yes the real Spen King of the Range Rover in the 1960's and one of the only remaining senior people from those days as Spencer and Maurice Wilk's are his Uncles on his mothers side. So after all the chat about Arthur, who he remembered very well and Rover in the 1940's and 50's. He looks at me and says in a really good 'mock' aussie accent 'and me father was one of you lot'. Amazing what you find is ture. His father was born and bred in Melbounre just down the road from where I grew up. Spen's father went to England in his teens to boarding school and then to study law where he ended up in the same class as an equally young Spencer Wilks. So Small World.

Remember you read it here first...

[chris1983rangie]

hey Mike,

this is Great,
and the ad from Regent Motors! ........Priceless!

thanks heaps,

Chris

[lane]

Great stuff, guys.

The advert mentioned that the chassis was galvanised. Did any of the production ones actually get a gal chassis, or was that decided against?

[260AC]

Great stuff, guys.

The advert mentioned that the chassis was galvanised. Did any of the production ones actually get a gal chassis, or was that decided against?

No it was decided against. The main prob with a gal chassis was they suddenly at the start of production in July 1948 had 8000 confirmed orders. Somethings had to go and Spencer Wilks reported to the board that they had to get production up to 500 vehicles a week to meet demand and invest money in proper production line facilities because of this. Arthur Goddard said to us in his interview that they initially would have been happy with 20 to 30 vehicles per week and he and the team designed the 80" on a shoe string budget with that in mind