Ross Finlay
In Land Rover's 50th
anniversary year, various celebrations and rough-country expeditions are planned
And the company has been tracking down the owners of its early products, which have given half a century of service.
The original vehicle,
introduced in 1948, was no
luxury job.
A previously staid British manufacturer had the idea of extending its market into four-wheel drive workhorses - taking advantage of the fact that postwar supplies of aluminium for body panels were more easily obtainable than steel, and that the government of the day was interested in anything which would generate export sales.
Its designers almost certainly never imagined that 50 years later there would be four model ranges. And the idea of 4x4s being classed as ''executive'' would have seemed absurd.
Another category might be called ''expedition'', because Land Rover products have been driven to some excessively out of the way locations.
Tom Stoppard, an ex-RAF test pilot now heavily involved in overland (which in this context means off-road) travel, has just written a book called Vehicle-dependent Expedition Guide.
Published with Land Rover's assistance, it covers everything about off-roading - from clothing to satellite navigation systems.
While the Defender is the modern expression of the original design, and the Freelander is marketed as a leisure vehicle, the Discovery and the Range Rover have long been accepted in the executive market.
In fact, the Range Rover was the first off-roader to seem at home in any situation - from clambering up muddy hillsides, to turning up at business meetings, or taking a smartly dressed party to the opera.
The Range Rover catalogue includes cars with four-litre and 4.6-litre V8 petrol engines, and 2.5-litre turbo diesels. There are luxurious fittings such as leather upholstery and walnut door cappings, and the top-rated HSE is very strongly specified.
If even the HSE equipment list seems too meagre, then Range Rover Autobiography offers a bespoke service by which items such as rear-seat television, lambswool rugs and a CARiN navigation system can be provided at obvious extra cost. However, underneath all this fancy stuff is a very competent off-roader. That half-century of experience has allowed the company's engineers to make the Range Rover a match for just about any opposition when it comes to tough mountain going.
Variable height air suspension is just one of the systems which keeps the Range Rover in the premium dual-purpose category.
It was the Range Rover which introduced many of them to the market in the first place.
One size down, the Land Rover Discovery was the
company's first 4x4 to go ''lifestyle''. Terence Conran was consulted on the interior design, which is ingenious in its details.
A stepped roofline also gives the Discovery more rear cabin space than many of its rivals.
The latest models feature 3.9-litre V8 petrol and 2.5-litre turbo diesel engines, as well as a better range of exterior colours and uprated interiors.
But, like the Range Rover, the Discovery is still a properly engineered off-roader.
It may that few Discovery owners ever venture into rough terrain, but for those who do the versatility is there.
The next generation Discovery is due in November, keeping the same model name but moving up-market.
Land Rover promises that its specification will include all the latest 4x4 technology, such as traction control, active ride
control and hill descent control.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article