Land-Rover Series 1 80 inch

The Land-Rover (hyphenated until 1979) was launched at the Amsterdam Motor Show in April 1948 and demand outstripped supply immediately; Welsh farmers greeting the new car as enthusiastically as Kenyan tea planters. This initially shocked Rover but their Chairman's report of 1948 ventured, 'Land-Rover production may well exceed our car output eventually'. By 1950 Rover were building twice as many Land-Rovers as cars!

Immediately post war, having taken on a huge wartime shadow factory in Solihull, Rover needed business to maintain this space and workforce. However, Government officials were only allocating resources to companies engaged in export. Maurice Wilks, younger brother of Rover MD Spencer Wilks and the firm’s Technical Director, realised there was a demand for army surplus Jeeps after using one on his land in Anglesey. He reasoned a new vehicle of that type would sell at home and, crucially, overseas. As a short term stopgap it could be brought to market quickly and keep his workforce in jobs. With steel in short supply but aluminium available, Rover built a 4x4 prototype in autumn 1947 and rapidly developed this into the production aluminium bodied Land-Rover. It remains fundamentally the same utilitarian vehicle today and around two million have been produced; not bad for a short-term stopgap.

Chassis 1-616-0400 was despatched to dealers ‘Cooper Motor Corporation Limited’ in Nairobi, Kenya on September 26th 1950 and from there to Tanganyika where it was registered TA 4848; TA indicting the town of Tanga. It was repatriated to the UK in 1956 when owner Mr Clipperton returned to live in Norfolk. Charles Crossman rescued it from Pentlow Mill, on the Essex/Suffolk border in 1973 intending to restore it but never did. Forty years later Ant Anstead purchased it from Mr Crossman and began the restoration in conjunction with marque expert Tom Pickford.

Even though the car was remarkably sound and original having spent so little of its life on the road it was completely stripped. Every single component was checked, renewed or restored and as many original components as possible were put aside and then reused during the assembly in order to retain the vehicle’s authenticity and patina. Tom Pickford rebuilt the engine and gearbox to factory specification using H&H electronic ignition, and both axles were also rebuilt.  The body and chassis were refinished to a very high standard in the correct semi-matt Bronze Green and all the galvanized steel was assigned in a single batch in order to ensure a tonal match. Exmoor Trim, experts in these cars, fitted the trim and canopy and it has a period style Shield battery. Unusually VNG 49 was fitted with trafficators from new which were restored. The correct Avon Traction Mileage 600-16 tyres were fitted as no other tyre looks ‘right’ on a Series 1.

Land Rover Series 1 80 inch.  Statistics

Production date: 26/09/1950
Production: Rover, Solihull Birmingham
Colour: Bronze Green
Specification: RHD drive export
Engine: 1,595cc 4cy in IL - OHV-inlet, SV-outlet
Power: 50bhp@4,000rpm
Torque: 80lb.ft@2,000rpm
Body: Birmabright aluminium with galvanised steel fixings
Chassis: Welded-box section ladder-frame steel - galvanised
Maximum speed: 55mph (Approx)
Production: 1948 – 1951

Production vol: 40,000 Se1 1.6 – Where has this figure come from?