Originally the term Land Rover referred to one specific vehicle, a pioneering civilian all-terrain utility vehicle launched on April 30, 1948 at the Amsterdam Motor Show, but was later used as a brand for several distinct models, all four-wheel drive. Starting out as an internal division of Rover, Land Rover has designed and manufactured a range of four-wheel drive vehicles under a succession of owners, including British Leyland, British Aerospace and BMW. Today, the marque is part of the Premier Automotive Group, a division of the Ford Motor Company, and one of the best internationally known and longest lived nameplates of rugged SUVs together with the U.S. Jeep.

Land Rovers are manufactured primarily at the Solihull plant, near the major manufacturing centre of Birmingham, England. Production of the "Freelander" has moved recently to the Jaguar car factory at Halewood near Liverpool. Another site at Gaydon in Warwickshire is home to the Land Rover R&D headquarters.

Land Rovers have competed in the Paris Dakar Rally as well as being the vehicle used for the Camel Trophy as part of a sponsorship deal. Now, Land Rover has its own G4 challenge.

History

The first Land Rover was designed in 1947 in the United Kingdom by Maurice Wilks, chief designer at the British car company Rover on his farm in Newborough, Anglesey. It is said that he was inspired by an American World War II Jeep that he used one summer at his holiday home in Wales. The first Land Rover prototype 'centre steer' was built on a Jeep chassis. A distinctive feature is their bodies, constructed of a lightweight rustproof proprietary alloy of aluminium and magnesium called Birmabright. This material was used owing to post war steel shortages and a plentiful supply of post-war aircraft aluminium. This metal's resistance to corrosion was one of the factors that allowed the vehicle to build up a reputation for longevity in the toughest conditions. The early choice of colour was dictated by military surplus supplies of aircraft cockpit paint, so early vehicles only came in a shade of light green; all models until recently feature sturdy box section ladder-frame chassis.

The early vehicles, such as the Series 1, were designed to be field-serviced; advertisements for Rovers cite vehicles driven thousands of miles on banana oil. Now with more complex service requirements this is less of an option. The British Army maintains the use of the mechanically simple 2.5 litre 4 cylinder 300TDi engined versions rather than the electronically controlled 2.5 litre 5 cylinder TD5 to retain some servicing simplicity. This engine also continued in use in some export markets using units built at a Ford plant in Brazil, where Land Rovers were built under license and the engine was also used in Ford pick-up trucks built locally. Production of the TDi engine ended here in 2006, meaning that Land Rover no longer offer it as an option. International Motors of Brazil offer an engine called the 2.8 TGV Power Torque, which is essentially a 2.8-litre version of the 300TDi, with a corresponding increase in power and torque.