Land Rover Defender: Offroad icon celebrates 60th birthday

By Thomas Burmeister May 23, 2007, 4:52 GMT

London - Maurice Wilks decided to build a vehicle that bore no similarity to the luxury limousines the company manufactured prior to the war.

He was on his farm when the idea, that probably saved his company from bankruptcy, came to him in the aftermath of World War II.

Farmers were the first to test the four-wheel drive offroad vehicle developed at Anglesey off the northwestern coast of Wales.

Soon fans all over the world dubbed it the 'Landy' and 60 years after the first prototype took to the muddy roads in 1947 it remains an icon.

The name Land Rover stands for a concept. It is a Rover not made for the well-dressed lordship driving on smooth city streets but for farmers and rough country roads.

Meanwhile the Land Rover family has been extended with the Range Rover and the Discovery that are built precisely for the urban driver in a pin-striped suit.

But for real offroad fans, like British car tester Alex Grant, the charm of the old 'Landy' lies in its 'indestructible soul' as the 'symbol of solid British car engineering' - so solid that 75 per cent of all Defenders ever built are still on the road.

The Land Rover was originally designed only as an interim vehicle to tide the Rover company over the difficult postwar years. Britain, although one of the victorious allied powers, suffered from the same lack of resources as the conquered nations. There was an acute shortage of steel.

The Land Rover was therefore made to carry out several agricultural tasks such as ploughing while at the same time providing loading space and being versatile enough for a family outing to the city.

From the start it was also envisaged for the export markets of Africa and Asia with their extremely bad roads. As foreign currency could be earned this way, the company was given quotas for steel but these were just enough to build the chassis. Because the length of the available steel parts were too short the parts were welded together in a frame that emerged as exceptionally strong.

Aluminium was used for most of the body sections. It was more expensive than steel but there was ample supply of it. The aluminium body with its unmistakeable signs of scratches and dents inevitably contributed to the Land Rover's cult status.

The green exterior colour was also attributed to the lean war postwar years. The only paint available was the large surplus of army green the government had stocked up on for painting armoured vehicles. It ideally suited the boxy Land Rover look.

Up til today the Defender looks like a vehicle put together in a backyard shed.

'If that were not the case,' says chief designer David Saddington, 'the diehard fans would punish us with a buying boycott'.

With every new Defender generation the designers were given the task to make only the most necessary changes. Fitted with a 1.6-litre engine the first 'Landy' made its appearance at the Amsterdam Car Show in 1948 and instantly became a sales hit.

Six decades after the first prototype the 2007 model Defender is now available in the showrooms. The 2002 model generation was updated with a completely new engine and interior. The 2.4-litre turbo diesel motor is quieter than the Td5 predecessor and with a top speed of 160 km/h well suited for motorway travel.

It remains to be seen whether the fans placing emphasis on tradition will like it. For some 'Landy' fans the comfortable seats and iPod sockets might be a little too decadent. But apart from the air vents under the windscreen that have been replaced by air conditioning and the minimal rise of the engine hood, the new Defender can unmistakeably be identified as a successor to the old 'Landy.'