Having undergone a full top to bottom referb, this gorgeous LWB Land Rover is ready take pride in any collection. Photo’s don’t do this Land Rover justice!
The introduction of the ‘Jeep’, a small reconnaissance vehicle mass produced by Willy’s and Ford during WW2 had shown that a compact and versatile 4x4 could be useful to the domestic market. One such person who thought of this was Rover’s then-technical chief Maurice Wilks who started sketching the basic design for the Land Rover in 1947 while driving around his farm in his Willy’s MB Jeep. The first prototype was unveiled at the Amsterdam motor show on 30th April 1948. It featured a centre mounted steering wheel, Rovers 1.4 litre engine that was beefed up to 1.6 litres, newly designed transfer case and boxy aluminium body work painted in military cockpit paint left over from WW2 plane manufacturing, all of which was mounted ironically on a WW2 Jeep chassis.
The first production Land Rover rolled off the assembly line in 1948 with an 80 inch wheel base, a 1.6 litre 4 cylinder petrol engine and a boxy aluminium body. Many panels in the series 1 were flat aluminium attached to a steel frame. Due to scarcity of raw steel after WW2 and large stockpiles of aluminium from ceased plane production, aluminium was extensively used in the construction of these early Land Rovers and subsequent models after that. This was a basic vehicle with tops for the doors and a roof (canvas or metal) being optional extras. The engine was Rovers existing pre-war design 1.6 inline 4 cylinder with an overhead inlet and side exhaust valves making about 50hp which was mated to a 4 speed gearbox and a 2 speed transfer case with permeant 4wd system. A key selling feature of the Land Rover was its versatility with a PTO attachment for various types of implements that could be used from farming to fire fighting attachments. The Land Rovers versatility as a vehicle is what saw it successfully launched all over the world
As years progressed the permeant 4wd system was replaced in 1950 with a selectable 2wd/4wd in high range and in 1952 the engine was enlarged to 2 litres (1995cc) with Siamese bores. 1945 saw the 80” wheel base extended to 86” and a long wheel base was introduced at 107” with station wagon variants being added a year later.
This long wheel base Land Rover 107 was bought by the current owner as a barn find project and has undergone a full body off refurbishment. All panels have been meticulously sanded down, hammered straight and finished in Bronze Green Gloss 2 pac for a fantastic mirror image finish. The ‘Landy’ has been upgraded to a later 2.25 litre engine from a previous owner and operates as it should with plenty of power through the 4 speed manual. It has travelled less than 100km since refurbishment. Detailed photographic record of all work has been taken and is included in a small dossier.
This Land Rover gleams under the sun and would make a great addition to any collection or for any enthusiast of the marque.
