Thanks for sharing that DiscoMick there were some things there I didn't know, like the very beginning.
Nathan.
I haven't checked this for accuracy, but no doubt some who know more than me will look over it.
The Land Rover History: Timeline
Thanks for sharing that DiscoMick there were some things there I didn't know, like the very beginning.
Nathan.
Thanks! It was interesting to read!
It is an interesting read.
I was having a chat on the weekend with my 94 (almost 95) year old father who re-told a story that I heard many years ago but forgot about. He is pretty sure he imported the first ever Land Rover into Australia. He was an RAF pilot who spent most of WWII as a POW in Germany but on being liberated he finished his commission (yes the RAF still made him finish after three years as a POW!) and then moved to Margaret River in Western Australia to take up a dairy farm in 1948/9. He and his wife saw the Land Rover at the London Motor Show in 1948 and had one shipped to use on the farm in WA. They were not available commercially in Australia at the time and he did not see another one around for a while so assumed his was the first. Don't know how we would check?
The only way of being fairly certain would be to get some hard facts on this vehicle. The date of arrival and the chassis number of the one currently believed to have been the first are, I believe, documented. (I think both have been published somewhere on this forum. )
An arrival date would be fairly good evidence, as would a chassis number.
Some of the people here are fairly well informed on the earliest official imports, but it is always possible that there was an earlier private import. Even if it was not actually earlier, it could still have seemed the first, as there were not very many made in 1948-9 anyway, and very few of these got to Australia anyway. And communications were not as good then either.
John
John
JDNSW
1986 110 County 3.9 diesel
1970 2a 109 2.25 petrol
Hi JDNSW. Just found photos of the very man and his car on this forum! See the post: 1948 - R860585
Small world.
Wow, how about that. Good find. I wonder how you would get records on a private import? Would LR in the UK have details still?
Very unlikely he bought it from Landrover, probably from a dealer, whose records almost certainly do not exist. It is, however, just possible, that Rover archives may have correspondence with him - there were a few modifications to early production that were retrofitted to most of the vehicles already delivered, or he may have corresponded with them as there was no local expertise - but there were local Rover dealers, so he probably corresponded through them.
John
John
JDNSW
1986 110 County 3.9 diesel
1970 2a 109 2.25 petrol
I think I've read that there is a UK Series Land Rover register, but I don't know any details.
Edit: This might be it:
http://www.lrr48-53.info/
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