Landrover Styling - over fifty years

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Originally Posted by zulu Delta 534

The Series 1 fuel tanks were accessed from under the seats and these may have been carried over to some of the very early Series 2 vehicles. Most S2s had the fuel filler fitted to the side behind the driver door unless they had been heavily modified as a specialist vehicle. (eg. S2a gunbuggy used S1 tanks.)
I was under the impression that the early Defenders were available with or without optional air conditioning and this protrusion of the grille was added to house the a/c condenser radiator which (if fitted) was mounted in front of the radiator.
Door hinges are a give-a-way as to the age of the vehicle (S2a to S3) as was, during the later Series runs, the different bonnets available a give-a-way to the perceived attempts of bringing 'class distinction' to the vehicle.
Somewhere along the line there has been a tyre size change (6.50x16 to 7.50x16s and of course their later metric equivalents).
Regards
Glen

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All Series 2/2a/3 had under seat tanks with side fillers, except for under seat fillers on some military vehicles, including the gun buggy and the Airportable, and all 109 wagons plus Stage 1 109s, which had rear tanks with side fillers, similar to the Defender.

Airconditioning and the grille extension that went with it were optional from the early 110s, and this continued with the Defender. The confusion arises because the extension is not fitted to most after manufacture installations - which is what has been supplied with most Defenders until the 2007+ model, because the pommie aircon was ineffective.

Tyre sizes - The original Landrovers came with 6.00x16 tyres. When the 107 was introduced, it came with 7.00x16. Series 2 onwards standardised on 6.00x16 for the 88 and 7.50x16 for the 109, with the 6.00x16 later replaced by 6.50x16, . The One Ton came with 9.00x16. But all these tyre sizes were optional for all models, pretty much from their introduction. Today most Series Landrovers have 7.50x16 tyres, as these are the easiest to find.

The deluxe bonnet was introduced with the Series 2 as a standard fitting on station wagons and 109s, but the standard bonnet was an option, the same as the deluxe was an option on other models.

John

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Originally Posted by dm_td5

Still, one of the best people memories of our round Australia trip last year was the number of times we were approached and they'd say "gee that's in good nick for an old Land Rover". The look on their face when you tell them it's only 12 months old is priceless :Rolling:

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The other day was sitting in my 1982 Series 3, and a couple of young guys asked me how I liked my discovery.

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

I was referring to styling - and I never suggested that there was any common styling between 1948 and 1973. I agree though about parts - although there are a few other bits that remained the same (or at least interchangeable) from 1948 to the end of Series production, for example the steering relay.

John

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1938 VW beetle
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...010/02/882.jpg

2003 VW beetle
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...010/02/883.jpg



The styling looks pretty damn similar to me. In fact closer than:
1948
http://www.nadaguides.com/Garage-Blo...Rover-Huey.jpg
1959
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...010/02/884.jpg
2010
http://static.desktopnexus.com/wallp...gthumbnail.jpg

I think the 2003 VW looks much closer to the 1938 VW than the landy models look to each other. The beetle retained the same wheels and hubcaps, the same (general) window, door and panel shapes - i.e. didn't change from square to rounded corners on all windows, etc, etc..., no change in headlight position for the VW...

The beetle also retained the same basic engine type/configuration.

If you consider 1958 the starting point for the current basic styling, then the defender needs to keep its current shape 2024 to beat the VW...

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Originally Posted by isuzurover

I think the 2003 VW looks much closer to the 1938 VW than the landy models look to each other. The beetle retained the same wheels and hubcaps, the same (general) window, door and panel shapes - i.e. didn't change from square to rounded corners on all windows, etc, etc..., no change in headlight position for the VW...

The beetle also retained the same basic engine type/configuration.

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I won't argue with you - - I'll point out that I mentioned the VW in my first post. I agree, VW did in fact retain the same styling - I had forgotten that the original beetle was revived after it was replaced by the super bug. I'm not too sure that it was in continuous production however, not that that is really significant.

I'll also point out that I never suggested that there was any styling similarity between 1948 and 1959 Landrovers. You are the one who brought in this straw man. My point was that the current Defender uses styling (and dimensions, at least for the lwb) that was introduced in 1958, and this is sufficiently similar that, for example, doors and some other panels are interchangeable. Retaining body styling for fifty years is unusual in the motor industry, although this thread has turned up several other examples in addition to the VW one I mentioned at the start. Although the Defender is perhaps the only one currently in production except for the Ambassador - unless you include the Morgan family, although their styling has varied perhaps a little more.

John

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

I won't argue with you - - I'll point out that I mentioned the VW in my first post. I agree, VW did in fact retain the same styling - I had forgotten that the original beetle was revived after it was replaced by the super bug. I'm not too sure that it was in continuous production however, not that that is really significant.

I'll also point out that I never suggested that there was any styling similarity between 1948 and 1959 Landrovers. You are the one who brought in this straw man. My point was that the current Defender uses styling (and dimensions, at least for the lwb) that was introduced in 1958, and this is sufficiently similar that, for example, doors and some other panels are interchangeable. Retaining body styling for fifty years is unusual in the motor industry, although this thread has turned up several other examples in addition to the VW one I mentioned at the start. Although the Defender is perhaps the only one currently in production except for the Ambassador - unless you include the Morgan family, although their styling has varied perhaps a little more.

John

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I was simply proving that this point:

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

The obvious one is the VW beetle (1938 - 2003, but in fact they made major changes to it, even introducing a curved windscreen (1973), which changed the whole shape of the body.

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Was somewhat subjective and a minor change compared to the changes that LR made between 1959 and 2010.

Btw - here is a 1975 superbug - looks the same to me stylistically - apart from the indicators, which LR changed and moved as well.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...010/02/881.jpg

I realised you were talking 1958-2010.

I agree that it is unusual, and LR is probably second only to VW.

However there are low volume cars which may need to be included (depending on the definition of "production"). E.g. the Lotus/Caterham 7 - built from 1957-present. The car changed hands in 1967/68, but Landrover went through a few changes of ownership as well ;)

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

All Series 2/2a/3 had under seat tanks with side fillers, except for under seat fillers on some military vehicles, including the gun buggy and the Airportable, and all 109 wagons plus Stage 1 109s, which had rear tanks with side fillers, similar to the Defender.


John

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The old mans IIa 88" has twin tanks with Main tank filling on the side and the Aux under the Passengers seat. With a Brass tap above the hand brake to change tanks.

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Originally Posted by Benny_IIA

The old mans IIa 88" has twin tanks with Main tank filling on the side and the Aux under the Passengers seat. With a Brass tap above the hand brake to change tanks.

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Correct for the factory auxiliary tank, although it is entirely possible it is a Series 1 tank fitted after market. However, most Australian Series 2a Landrovers with two tanks have the extra tank filled from a side filler the same as the RH tank as fitted to army 2as.

John

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

Correct for the factory auxiliary tank, although it is entirely possible it is a Series 1 tank fitted after market. However, most Australian Series 2a Landrovers with two tanks have the extra tank filled from a side filler the same as the RH tank as fitted to army 2as.

John

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Do you know if the dimensions of a S2 and S1 aux tanks are different? I would like to know if it is a factory fitted tank.

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Originally Posted by Vixen

Before 2007 ;) Gandalf, Numpty's 2006 defender has plastic front wheel arches

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As did my '84 County. See http://www.aulro.com/afvb/general-ch...ml#post1180961

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Originally Posted by Vixen

I wouldn't know about anything about that Ron. I am certain tho that the Stage 1 (1981) had metal wheel arches.

You are talking arches here...not flares?

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Ahh. perhaps differing terms?

Are you referring to plastic wheelwell liners used in modern cars?