Series 1 Land Rovers

The Land Rover cars released between the years 1948 and 1958 fall under series 1 Land Rovers. In 1948, at Amsterdam motor show, the first Land Rover was unveiled. The manufacturers primarily had an intension to unveil it only for industrial and military use and the first series of cars came with aluminum bodies and steel chassis.

There was only a single model in the early years. The Land Rover released between 1948 and 1951 were of petrol engine with an engine capacity of 1.6 liters and it produced a power of 50 bhp. The gear box system was four speeded and the very unusual four wheel system of driving was the noticeable difference in Land Rover when compared to the car of those ages.

When the first series of cars were launched, the manufacturers got a crystal clear idea of what people are expecting from them, thereafter. The feedback for original and primary version was good as it gave people a new experience of driving and traveling. Valuing the responses of people, designers gave birth to a slightly different model in the year 1949 itself, which was termed as "wagon station". The wagon station-Land Rover could accommodate as many as seven people and it had beautiful wooden finishing in the interior of the wagon. Body of this version of Land Rover was built by Tickford. Tickford was well known for its associated works with Rolls-Royce cars. The additional options incorporated within the Land Rover made this version a bit expensive when compared with the original one. It had a heater inside the cab and had windscreens that were laminated. The seats for seven passengers looked exquisite as it was made out of leather.

As mentioned, the wooden construction and other additional options made it a wee be expensive than the first one. This increase in cost was compounded with the increase in tax amount, imposed by the government. This version of Land Rover was labeled as a private usage car, and it required high tax amount to purchase. Due to the increased cost and maintenance charges, only around 700 cars were sold out at that point of time. Apart from that, around 500 cars were exported to foreign countries. Even today you can see around 10 of these cars in museums and those are up for grabs. A good negotiation with the authorities might help you get it for around 15 thousand dollars.

Changes and revolutions were made on early versions of Land Rovers and one of the significant changes was the change in petrol engine. The 1.6 liter capacity petrol engine was replaced by 2L capacity petrol engine. This petrol engine was known as the "Siamese bore", it restricted any sort of water passage between the pistons of the car.

Earlier versions of Land Rovers were labeled as commercial vehicles and the purchase tax of the car was too less. But, there was a restriction to the speed limit with which Land Rovers could be driven on British roads, which is 30 kilometers per hour.