Thread: Land Rover history, 1978, a fresh start

Thanks Bob

It's a pitty they included an image of the Series 3, the Land Rover model that should have never been born.

Diana

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Thanks Bob

It's a pitty they included an image of the Series 3, the Land Rover model that should have never been born.

Diana

Well I am curious now... Why not?

Lots of reasons.

• The SIII all synchro gearbox is the least strong series gearbox of over a decade (it could be debated least strong of all LR boxes), including housing failures not previously experienced.
• The 10" and 11" un-boosted brakes were inadequate in the SIIa.
• The boost on the six cylinder brakes was inadequate for the weight of the 109".
• the 2.6 litre six cylinder was a obsolete design in 1963 when first fitted to the Land Rover and it didn't improve. The Leyland P76 six would have been a better option.
• The 2 1/4litre engine and transmission were inadequate for the road speeds in the late 1960's let alone the late 1970s.
• The plastic dash cracked and fell apart.
• The windows in the doors leaked over the drivers and passengers knees.
• The door locks were inadequate and could be overcome by a hard pull up on the handle.
• The M16 wheel nuts had a habbit of coming loose (hence the later modified rims in the au models)
• Lack of internal rust protection in doors and firewall, something that was standard in the BMC vehicles made at Zetland at the same time.

In 1972 they already had all the technology in house to build the 110 County, yet we got the SIII.

1979 Land Rover history, courtesy of LRM, Matthew

V8 power for Series III - Red, blue, green and yellow – extra colours to brighten up the V8 Series III

As far as Land Rover Limited customers were concerned 1979 was the first time they saw much in the way of change since 1970. As part of ‘Stage One’ in the building up of the new company, a new model was launched in the UK in March. The 3.5-litre V8 petrol engine was, for the first time, available in 109 inch wheelbase Land Rovers.

To differentiate it from other models the vehicle was called the V8 Land Rover. The engine was a 91bhp detuned version of that already fitted to the Range Rover, also sharing the robust four speed gearbox from that source. There was a new bonnet and front panel, now flat across the front to allow the longer power train to be fitted. There was also permanent four-wheel drive, but most of the rest of the bodywork, the leaf suspension and drum brakes were from the older models.

The lower state of engine tune was supposed to be the maximum the brakes were considered to be capable of handling and the method of detuning – by fitting restrictors in the inlet manifold below the carbs – strangled the engine at the top end but gave huge amounts of torque lower down. Ideal for Land Rover applications. The V8 was only available on the long wheelbase models and was produced alongside the four-cylinder long and short wheelbase vehicles. Four bright colours – red, blue, green and yellow were also available on the V8. The old six-cylinder powered 109, obviously less in demand, was now gradually phased out of production as orders were fulfiled and components used up.

The Range Rover also gained as part of this process. Production was greatly increased and there were many improvements to the interior trim including a better steering wheel.

The exterior gained new colours and decals to replace the raised bonnet lettering. The bumpers were finished in black, as were the door mirrors. Repeater indicator lamps were now fitted to the wings. In all it looked a lot more modern for a limited extra expense. It would have to wait a few more years for the more costly re-engineering. The showroom price in 1979 was £9151, compared with just £1998 at the 1970 launch.

There were big changes in government as well, what with Margaret Thatcher becoming the first woman Prime Minister in May following a General Election, the fall of the sitting Labour Government finally being caused when lorry drivers went out on strike in January asking for a 22 percent pay rise. By May the crisis with food, fuel and everything else brought the government down and precipitated an election.

Industrial unrest did not stop straight away with the change in leadership and there soon started a long running strike at ITV, leaving the BBC as the only source of viewing. You were able, however, to listen to your favourite music on a Sony Walkman which was first marketed this year. The IRA were still trying to force politics with violence and killed the MP Airey Neave and Earl Mountbatten in separate bomb explosions. The Yorkshire Ripper also claimed his 12th victim.
November 1979 saw the start of a different vehicle chassis numbering system for Land Rovers. In line with other manufacturers in Europe, Land Rover Ltd now started using a multi-digit VIN (Vehicle Identification Number).

The first few letters and numbers identified the manufacturer and assembly plant, followed by model, body, engine and transmission details, followed by the serial number. In the serial numbers all the different models were included together.

There were also several detail changes in specification for safety and crash worthiness necessitated for European Type Approval compliance, all brought about by the harmonisation of legislation within the EEC.

1980, Land Rover history, thanks to LRM, Matthew

1980 Land Rover history

Stage two - Work begins in earnest to shape Land Rover’s future

THE WINTER of 1979-1980 in Great Britain was bad. Not only was the weather bad but the state of the economy was terrible. Despite a change of government things were not improving very quickly. Sales of everything were down, cars in particular being badly hit by the major increase in the price of petrol.

But it was not so gloomy at Land Rover as it was elsewhere. Sales of both Land Rover and Range Rover vehicles were only slightly down on the previous year, which was quite surprising considering the well-known thirst of the V8 engine. The Range Rover for example sold 9,708 units as opposed to 11,373 the previous year.

The new engine option of the V8 obviously helped Land Rover sales, as did the steadily improving specification of the Range Rover. The real object of desire, the four door Range Rover was under development and, as a marketing exercise, a four door conversion by the Swiss Coachbuilder Monteverdi was available as a factory approved conversion.

The rest of the specification of these Range Rovers showed a hint of the future with leather faced seats and metallic paintwork.

The high cost of fuel started people looking at cheaper ways of powering their Range Rovers and as, unlike the Land Rover, there was no factory diesel option many alternative conversions were tried. This ultimately resulted in quite a large number of converters fitting a multitude of different engines.

In America ex-Beatle John Lennon was shot dead and a film actor enjoyed a change of location when Ronald Reagan moved to the White House as President. Also from America came the Camel Trophy that went Trans-Amazonian. For this first event, however, they used Jeeps. The Stealth bomber was revealed as well in the USA this year.

Elsewhere in the world Iran and Iraq were at war and in Poland the Solidarity union was formed. Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia died and Zimbabwe gained its independence.

At Land Rover there was a lot of work going on behind the scenes which was not apparent as part of Stage 2 of the redevelopment work. The work on re-engineering the Range Rover bodyshell to four doors was quite extensive as the resulting vehicle had to pass all the safety tests as a new vehicle.

There was a lot of work going on with the Land Rover four cylinder engines in both petrol and diesel form. They were being redesigned as a five main bearing unit as a basis for a whole range of engines for future models. There was a lot of building work going on to put in the new manufacturing plant and assembly line to build them. This was at Solihull in the North Works where previously the Rover P6 2000 had been assembled.

There was also a lot of work starting on the development work in merging the Range Rover type of coil suspension and disc brakes with the Land Rover type of utilitarian bodywork and getting it to comply with the, sometimes conflicting, requirements of end user, production engineering and European Safety legislation.

The legislation also involved a continuous upgrading of existing models. The redesign of the Range Rover rear light clusters in late 1980 to incorporate high intensity rear fog lights being an example of this.

Other parts of the parent company were trying

to turn their fortunes around as well. In the autumn the Austin Mini Metro was launched as other parts of the group were also recipients of new funding to secure the future of the whole group.

The early eighties were the heyday of Range Rover conversions and customisation by outside coachbuilders. One of the results of the oil producing countries putting up the price of oil and thus petrol was the surplus of money in these countries. The Range Rover had gained acceptance as a status symbol and was converted in Britain before being exported. There were all sorts of vehicles created from simple hunting vehicles with no roofs to grand palaces on wheels on extended wheelbase chassis. It seemed as if each order placed was in an effort to upstage the previous one both in terms of specification and in price.

Many of these vehicles included four door conversions, aluminium wheels and automatic gearbox conversions as well as plush interiors and exterior improvements. While not directly involved with this work, the engineers and sales people at Land Rover must have observed what the market wanted and began to react to it in their own way. They must also have observed how well the brakes and other components and systems coped with gross vehicle weights far in excess of the original design criteria.

1980 was quite a quiet year really while all the improvements and investment were implemented to allow the company to forge ahead for the rest of the decade.

May as well keep going, courtesy of LRM, Matthew
1981 Land Rover history

Four Doors - The Range Rover begins its life as social climber

THE MOST significant development in 1981 as far as Land Rover Ltd was concerned was the launch in July of its much needed factory produced four-door Range Rover. It was part of the result of the investment programme following the formation of the new company and was a major step forward. In reality the vehicle gained more than a couple of extra doors, as higher levels of trim including more carpet and wooden door cappings, plus stylish aluminium alloy wheels were also on offer as an option pack.

All were items that had been envisaged at the launch eleven years previously, but financial restrictions within the main company had delayed their implementation. In reality none of the new developments did much for the Range Rover’s fuel economy (at a time when world oil prices were rising), the extra weight over the original basic vehicle being quite significant. Mechanically, output ratios in the transfer box were altered to make the vehicle higher geared and the engine was given a higher compression ratio (9.35:1) and revised camshaft profiles. These particular alterations were in an effort to help with economy and emission regulations. The Range Rover was beginning its move further away from the 'hose out' agricultural concept and was rapidly on the way to becoming the only vehicle to be seen in when driving in ‘town’.

However, there was, as usual, a premium to pay for the uprated vehicle, the four-door costing £750 more than the two-door. In order to satisfy more commercial users and the many police forces, a lower specification two-door was introduced called the Fleetline. This had a lower trim spec, rubber floor coverings and even the option of deleting the power steering. Demand and sales of the Range Rover increased rapidly, contrary to the trend of reducing sales in the rest of the UK car manufacturing industry. By now Land Rover Ltd's parent company, BL, were well on their way to producing new models in collaboration with Honda. The Triumph Acclaim (really a re-badged Honda) was launched this year and the SD1 replacement, which would not be built at Solihull was under development. Just as significant, but introduced unannounced and unheralded, was the increase from three to five main bearings for the 2286cc petrol and diesel engines in the Land Rover.

As part of the second stage of the redevelopment, engine building had been moved in-house from the satellite factories into the North Block at Solihull. These had been empty since production of the P6 had finished in 1977 and the ‘new’ £85 million plant was to be capable of building the engines for the intended future range of vehicles.

The only difference in these new-engined vehicles was a different colour for the engine block and a matrix of stiffening webs on the outside. From the driver’s seat there was no more power, but the engines were a lot smoother in operation and, as might be expected, this was most noticeable with the diesel. As part of the reorganisation of the Solihull factory site, the Range Rover assembly line was also moved into this building to allow even more alterations to accommodate production of the planned future Land Rover models which were then under development. It was a busy place as the SD1 Rover cars and the Triumph TR7 and 8 were also being built on the site. However, the Triumph sports car would soon be ceasing production, and the SD1 would be built at the old Morris factory in Cowley, leaving the Solihull site dedicated to the production of four wheel drive models. The separation of the car and 4x4 companies was becoming more visible.

In the rest of the world Ronald Reagan took up his newly elected position as President of the United States and in July Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer. If you wanted to exercise your mind the Rubik Cube was the most popular thing in the shops. At the cinema you would be able to see Raiders of the Lost Ark or Chariots of Fire, and you were able to cross the Humber river on the new bridge. 1981 was also the year when scientists first identified the AIDS virus.

There continued an ever-deepening recession in the economy. The fact that the new company, Land Rover Ltd, managed to increase its sales of vehicles against the trend for reduced sales was a great result for the people who had the foresight to plan and commit such large sums of money to the redevelopment of the facilities and justified the investment in the future.

AND, courtesy of LRM, Matthew
1982 Land Rover history

High capacity - Developments begin to speed up on both model ranges

AFTER THE launch of the four-door Range Rover in 1981, it was the turn of the Land Rover in 1982 for improvements under Stage 2 of the investment programme. The most noticeable new model was the High Capacity Pick Up which, with the other improved models, was first shown in April. The rear of this V8 or 4-cylinder 109 was now available in addition to the standard-shaped vehicle as a larger pick up bed with a full width drop down tailgate. The rear tub was a separate aluminium fabrication which, besides being wider, overhung the rear chassis by a few inches. It came as standard with a cab-protecting ladder rack. It was 20 percent bigger in floor area and 45 percent in volume, as it only had small wheelarch intrusions unlike the standard body’s full-length wheel boxes. It had the option of a fully-enclosing canvas tilt. The Hi Cap was available at the normal payload or an even higher one with revised suspension. The vehicle could also benefit from the new trim specification of cloth seats and interior fittings of the new ‘County’ trim package.
Elements of this were available on all models, such as the new shape cloth trimmed seats, but it was the stationwagons which were to get the real makeover. The old basic trim was still available, but the new 88 or 109 wheelbase models were available only in Masai Red or Russet Brown with a broad Limestone band down the side with matching roof and wheels. There were better radial tyres and side repeater indicators and driving lamps with fog and reverse lamps, mud flaps and a spare wheel cover all standard. Inside, the seats were better shaped in the front and cloth-covered throughout. There were better materials on the floor and rooflining. There was also tinted glass fitted to all the windows. They were really a hint of what was coming in the next model, which was a bit of an open secret at the time as the investment in re-engineering was no way economic in the run out of the old model.
At the same time the Range Rover became available with automatic transmission. The vehicle used the Chrysler 727 Torqueflight gearbox bought in from the USA mated to the Rover V8 and an all-new Land Rover-built LT230R two speed transfer box. The main box was a three speed unit with big gaps between gears. It performed well in every area with the exception of fuel economy where you were lucky to get double figures, especially if air-conditioning was used as well.
The new transfer box would, with different ratios, become the standard Land Rover and Range Rover transfer box in the future and so justified the enormous development costs which the sales of this model alone would not justify. The automatic was launched with a second limited edition of the Vogue model. This time it was four door only and in Gold or Silver with wood door cappings and an even better specification interior. The Range Rover ‘In Vogue’ Automatic was the most expensive Range Rover built up to that point. The Land Rover had its chance in a major conflict in this year as well. The Falkland Islands had been invaded by Argentina and the UK embarked on a fierce battle to regain them. A large contingent of Land Rovers of all types was shipped south along with all the other military hardware. They played a major part in the battles but the conditions were appaling which resulted in a lot of old fashioned footwork and helicopter rides to make progress. Airportability was a major asset for vehicle movements.
Back home the major blockbuster ET Steven Spielburg’s Extra-Terrestrial, was on at the cinema. Sales of Land Rover models were down this year but sales of Range Rover increased, so combined figures were not too bad. However, several of the more traditional markets in Africa and the Arab countries started to dry up as the worsening economic situation, with poor exchange rates, made them expensive vehicles to purchase.
Behind the scenes testing was going on with the new range of coil sprung vehicles which would soon be announced as part of Stage 2 of the expansion programme. The visible alterations such as the new pick up body and trim and other less obvious items which had crept onto production vehicles – like the push on one piece door seals – indicated that the new vehicles were to be the most significant thing to happen to the Land Rover since its introduction almost 35 years previously. 1983 would be an interesting year.