Land Rover to restore 'missing' original 4X4

Pictures, maps, memories and stories

Land Rover to restore 'missing' original 4X4

Postby dutchman » Sun Jan 14, 2018 8:38 pm

The car manufacturer is planning to commemorate the anniversary throughout 2018

Image

Land Rover is restoring an original pre-production car from the 1940s as part of its 70th anniversary celebrations this year.

The car manufacturer is planning to commemorate the anniversary throughout 2018 with a series of events and celebrations, beginning with the restoration of the vehicle that started it all.

The car at the centre of the project is one of the three pre-production Land Rovers shown at the 1948 Amsterdam Motor Show launch which gave the world a first glimpse of the shape that would become recognisable as a Land Rover.

For years, the whereabouts of this launch Land Rover remained a mystery.

The demonstration vehicle from that Amsterdam show was last on the road in the 1960s after which it spent 20 years in a Welsh field before being bought as a restoration project.

Unfortunately, it then lay languishing unfinished in a garden.

Following its surprise discovery just a few miles outside of Solihull, where the car was first built, staff at Jaguar Land Rover Classic spent months researching in company archives to unravel its ownership history and confirm its origins.

The team behind the Land Rover Series I Reborn programme, which allows customers to own a restored Series I car, will now embark on what the company is calling "their most challenging project yet".

They are aiming to preserve this historically significant prototype and enable it to be driven again.

The car has special features that are unique to the 48 pre-production Land Rovers that were produced prior to the mass production vehicles, such as thicker aluminium alloy body panels, a galvanised chassis and a removable rear tub.

The patina of its components will be preserved, including the original light green paint applied in 1948.

Tim Hannig, director of Jaguar Land Rover Classic, said: "This Land Rover is an irreplaceable piece of world automotive history and is as historically important as 'Huey', the first pre-production Land Rover.

"Beginning its sympathetic restoration here at Classic Works, where we can ensure it's put back together precisely as it's meant to be, is a fitting way to start Land Rover's 70th anniversary year.

"There is something charming about the fact that exactly 70 years ago this vehicle would have been undergoing its final adjustments before being prepared for the 1948 Amsterdam Motor Show launch."

Previous owners of this historic vehicle are being invited to Jaguar Land Rover's Classic Works facility to share their experiences and to witness its restoration.

Image

Image
User avatar
dutchman
Site Admin
 
Posts: 50286
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2009 1:24 am
Location: Spon End

Re: Land Rover to restore 'missing' original 4X4

Postby dutchman » Sun Jan 14, 2018 8:49 pm

The Dutch Army was for a long time Land Rover's biggest export customer:

Image
User avatar
dutchman
Site Admin
 
Posts: 50286
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2009 1:24 am
Location: Spon End

Re: Land Rover to restore 'missing' original 4X4

Postby rebbonk » Sun Jan 14, 2018 10:00 pm

...we can ensure it's put back together precisely as it's meant to be...
:lol:

Good luck with that, no two Defenders ever came off the line the same.
Of course it'll fit; you just need a bigger hammer.
User avatar
rebbonk
 
Posts: 65568
Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2009 7:01 am


Return to Local History

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests

  • Ads