Iconic Land Rover remains popular SUVs frontrunner

Turn the key in the centre console to arm the ignition and reach down to push the red starter button and the engine would most of the time come to life with a bit of a splutter.

This was the green Series II Land Rover I remember in 1962 when my father was serving as District Officer in Kangema.

The push-button start that is all the rave in modern cars today is not so new after all!

The Land Rover is an iconic British car, so much so that King George VI granted the marque a Royal Warrant in 1951.

The original Land Rover was the brainchild of Maurice Wilks, Rover’s chief engineer, who famously sketched his original design in the sand on an Anglesey beach for his brother Spencer, who was managing director of Rover Company.

Inspired by the rugged US Army Willys Jeep, a multipurpose vehicle used by the Allies during World War II, the Land Rover was created as part of an initiative to get British manufacturing going again after the war.

Launched in April 1948 at the Amsterdam Motor Show, the first Land Rover Series I had a box section chassis and aluminium bodywork. This was due to the rationing of steel and a surplus of aircraft aluminium after the war.

Aluminium is not susceptible to rust and as a result, many thousands of Series Is can still be seen today in original or restored condition.

The Series I was built as a go-anywhere four-wheel drive vehicle, which combined simplicity with dependable quality featuring a 1600cc inlet-over-exhaust petrol engine in both four-and six-cylinder variants.

BANANA OIL

Since the model was based around the military using surplus supplies of aircraft cockpit paint, the first vehicles came only in green colour.

It is claimed that early advertisements for Land Rovers bragged that the vehicles could be driven on banana oil!

Within a year of its launch, the Land Rover was an instant success and by the end of the 1940s, the Rover Company was exporting to more than 70 countries.

The Land Rover could not have come at a better time for the Colony of Kenya, which was experiencing an armed revolt by the Mau Mau in the early 1950s.

It provided the colonial administrators with a versatile means of quickly reaching trouble spots in difficult terrain.

The sight of an armed white District Officer in an open Land Rover with fierce dogs in the back was commonplace during the emergency, instilling a sense of fear among the locals.

The Series II was introduced in 1958 featuring a 2.25-litre petrol engine, barrel sides and a wider track. Earlier in 1956, a long wheelbase (109”) had been introduced ostensibly to take advantage of UK tax laws.

According to the law a vehicle, which could sit 12 or more people was classified as a bus and therefore was exempt from purchase tax making it considerably cheaper than the smaller Series II.

The Land Rover was also popular among farmers particularly in Kenya where it provided easy coverage of large tracts of land owned by settlers. It also provided a convenient power take off, which could be used to run posho mills, dryers and water pumps.

By the end of the 1950s, more than 250,000 Land Rover units had been sold worldwide.

In 1965, the Rover Company introduced the Buick-sourced 3.5-litre V8 engine which was more powerful but incredibly lightweight.

SYMBOL OF AUTHORITY

The following year sales of Land Rover vehicles had reached the 500,000-mark. In 1967, Rover merged with Leyland Motors and a smaller 2.6-litre engine was made available.

By 1968 Leyland and Rover joined British Motor Corporation.

The Land Rover platform has seen one of the widest range of applications such as the military, fire engine, field ambulance, adventure vehicle, hydraulic lift, snow plough, excavators, amphibious craft and vehicles fitted with tracks instead of wheels.

By the early 1970s, the Land Rover in Kenya had become synonymous with government whether in provincial administration, the police, extension officers, the military or the ceremonial vehicle for the president. It was a symbol of authority.

In civilian use the Land Rover was popular as a tourist carrier, recreational use for those who loved the outdoors, mobile banking services in outlying areas and as a public service vehicle in difficult terrain, such was to be found in Meru and its environs.

Although other models such as the Range Rover, Freelander and Discovery have been added to the model range the Land Rover is still in production after 71 years.

Today the Land Rover remains a popular design which was the forerunner of all the modern sports utility vehicles we see on the roads today. The design was surely way ahead of its time.