Thread: 80" line up - historic photo

That is excellent...

check out the other photos in that article (its in italian but translate it,) This is the link to the gallery..

great shots, thanks!

I still am facinated by the guards on the prototype... they'd look good on an 80 nowdays .... Interesting.

thanks again

yeah those guards look odd. It looks a lot like a jeep(how odd ) with the rag top on it.

If you have Google chrome as your browser, there is a translation to English option on the tool bar.

Originally Posted by magilla

If you have Google chrome as your browser, there is a translation to English option on the tool bar.

or...

CHAPTER 4: THE ORIGIN OF THE MYTH


| 18 marzo 2010 18:10





On the occasion of the official debut at the Amsterdam Motor Show , due to the numerous changes accumulated in the various stages of processing, the Land Rover was very late on the roadmap.

Plants in Solihull were not yet ready all the 50 vehicles included in the plan of pre-production stages, but only 25 copies had been made ​​on the eve of the big event. And of these, only two were sent in the Netherlands: a static model with the traditional left-hand drive, and one marching with the right guidance.

For the final model was also adopted the solution of the frame sheet printed shaped "U", which were then subject to a galvanizing process to eliminate the risks of corrosion, while as regards the choice fell on the transmission mode (edge for those years) of the permanent four wheel drive with "wheels free "front, the change to four-speed gearbox , it was combined with the low gears and the vehicle was not expected differential locks. This solution was expressly dictated by Maurice Wilks, who considered too delicate system of differential locks as it could cause serious technical problems and breakage of the same differential if the device had been left on for distraction on road surfaces regularly.

And once again, judging by the many problems right in the differential locks in different vehicles of future competition, the facts give reason to the foresight technique Wilks who had also fought strongly for the adoption of two PTOs front and rear , using a special kit was possible to transform the Land Rover in a significant source of energy for all those new machines that in those years began to spread among the agricoltori.

All 'tomorrow onset at the Amsterdam Motor success of the Land Rover was immediate and rapid, higher than the most optimistic expectations and orders from all over the world began to flock in an ever more pressing for which the vertices of the Company (the wonder and exceeded the initial enthusiasm) almost began to worry about real opportunity to escape such a huge amount of requests within a reasonable time. The production line set up in Solihull in fact, would have to secure a production of 1,200 vehicles a year, but in reality the Land Rover they soon realize that they could hardly reach 1,000 units .

The success of the Land Rover was born with ' intent to synthesize the functions of an agricultural tractor with a pickup truck carrying light, arose precisely from its extreme versatility, which responded optimally to the needs of disadvantaged environmental situation that characterized the immediate post-war period in most European countries.

To be the irresistible charm of this vehicle, in addition to farmers, is that broad group of users represented by construction companies, industrial facilities, public and private bodies, sites with mobility needs in areas particularly difficult and poorly accessible. In addition of course to ' British army that, despite the end of the Second World War, will not delay to "enlist" the new Land Rover just over a year after the debut ( 1949 ), which will have its baptism of fire when it is sent to the Korean War .


The Land Rover was put up for sale at a price of 450 pounds and the first version arrived at dealers differed only in some details from the models set up for the pre-series, such as the position of the exhaust terminal (located on the right instead of left), the front bumper attached by bolts (and no longer welded to the frame) and the seats slightly modified to ensure a level of comfort higher than those of the pre-series models.

To report some curious details, which give an idea dell'allestimento Spartan and essential of the first Land Rover, such as the system of the door openings which did not provide external handles, to open the vehicle doors, hinged between the passenger compartment and the engine compartment, you had to put your hand into a slot triangular (covered by a small extension in cloth inserted into the soft top) to reach the door knob. The front headlights, considered one of the distinctive elements of the design of the vehicle, were collected (in slightly behind the profile of the body) in the radiator grille to the sides of the wings; completely absent were the key indicators . The windshield, similarly to the terrain of American production, was flat and divided into two elements (solution considered more functional than the one adopted on the first prototypes, where the front glass was formed by a single element) before folding and was even with the wheel Creative Commons, usually placed behind the seats, positioned on the bonnet, the first models were also equipped with a single windscreen wiper and one external air intake at the base of the windshield, both located on the driver's side.

The success of the Land Rover, as well as cross national boundaries, he was able to overcome even the hushed atmosphere of Buckingham Palace and even Queen Elizabeth (including a parade in a carriage and a trip to the Rolls) is not ashamed to use it to attend some events officers. And 'the consecration of the myth.

aint it the truth,

could almost be reading about the current Defender