Land Rover celebrates their 70th Anniversary

Land Rover celebrates their 70th Anniversary

Land Rover will mark their 70th anniversary with a global broadcast celebrating the world’s favourite 4x4s and the people who love them.

Starring the cars and the people who make and drive them, the online programme will pay tribute to seven decades of adventure, humanitarian aid and hard work across classes and cultures around the world.

The YouTube broadcast is at 20:00 BST today – 70 years to the day since the first Land Rover made its debut at the Amsterdam Motor Show. It will tell how Land Rover began as a utility model at the end of the Second World War and grew to become the world’s favourite 4×4, with more than 7 million sold.

Viewers can expect great models from the past as well as inspirational people behind the legend and a look to the future, with a level of insight only available direct from the factory.

Prof Dr Ralf Speth, Jaguar Land Rover CEO, said: “Land Rover was born with the launch of a single vehicle. Today our family of SUVs is testament to the pioneering spirit of innovation that has characterised Land Rover for seven decades. Our family of Defender, Discovery and Range Rover models provides unrivalled capability, versatility and luxury, giving us the perfect foundation for another 70 years of success.

“Land Rover is so much more than just the most capable all-terrain vehicles. It connects people through a passion for adventure and making more of our world. From our employees to customers and enthusiasts, this is the family that makes Land Rover special.”

A vehicle line-up including HUE: the first prototype Land Rover, the original two-door Range Rover and the seven-seater Discovery, as well as expedition-proven models from across the decades, will share the stage at the Land Rover Classic Works in Coventry. The current range, including the sector-defining Range Rover Evoque and Velar SUVs, will also be on screen as Land Rover celebrates its lifelong status as a favourite among celebrities, politicians and royalty.

The year of 70th celebrations has already begun and one of the vehicles from the start of the story will star in the show. In January, Land Rover revealed plans to sympathetically renovate the world’s most historically significant unrestored model – one of three pre-production cars from the original Amsterdam motor show launch on 30th April 1948.

Now in the hands of the experts at Land Rover Classic, it will take the stage alongside its closest modern relative – the exclusive 405PS Defender Works V8 revealed earlier this year. Only 150 of the powerful 70th edition models will be produced and each of the specially engineered V8 derivatives will be built under the same roof, by Land Rover Classic’s team of expert engineers.

70 YEARS OF LAND ROVER

• 1948 – Land Rover Series I launched at the Amsterdam Motor Show
• 1953 – Long Wheelbase version of the Series I is introduced
• 1956 – Oxford and Cambridge teams complete on London to Singapore expedition in Series I
• 1958 – Land Rover Series II unveiled with more refined design
• 1970 – Original two-door Range Rover (the Classic) goes on sale
• 1971 – Land Rover Series III launched
• 1972 – Range Rover crosses Darien Gap on 18,000-mile Trans-America expedition
• 1976 – 1,000,000th Land Rover built
• 1979 – A Range Rover wins the inaugural Paris-Dakar rally (and again in 1981)
• 1981 – Land Rover begins legendary partership with Camel Trophy
• 1981 – Four-door Range Rover released
• 1989 – Land Rover Discovery, the third Land Rover model, goes on sale
• 1990 – Original ‘Landie’ relaunched and renamed Defender
• 1994 – Second generation Range Rover launched
• 1997 – All-new Freelander is unveiled with innovative new technology: Hill Descent Control
• 2001 – Third-generation Range Rover with all-round independent air suspension revealed
• 2003 – Inaugural G4 challenge sees 16 teams traverse USA, South Africa and Australia
• 2004 – Range Stormer Concept previews performance Range Rover and three-door body
• 2004 – Discovery 3/LR3, the third-generation Discovery, launched at New York Motor Show
• 2005 – All-new Range Rover Sport unveiled
• 2006 – Freelander 2/LR2 launched. The first Land Rover to be manufactured at Halewood
• 2008 – LRX concept car previews design language of a new luxury compact SUV
• 2009 – Fourth generation of the Land Rover Discovery introduced
• 2010 – Range Rover Evoque, the world’s first luxury compact SUV, makes global debut
• 2012 – Fourth-generation Range Rover introduced – the first all-aluminium SUV
• 2013 – New generation of Range Rover Sport unveiled at New York Motor Show
• 2014 – Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division is officially launched
• 2014 – Range Rover Sport SVR debuts, the fastest, most agile, most powerful Land Rover
• 2014 – Discovery Vision Concept previews design vision for new family of Discovery vehicles
• 2014 – Launch of Discovery Sport, a new premium compact SUV with 5+2 seating
• 2015 – Trio of end-of-line Defender editions revealed with biggest sand drawing in UK
• 2015 – Exclusive Range Rover SVAutobiography long wheelbase launched in New York
• 2015 – Evoque Convertible becomes world’s first luxury compact SUV convertible
• 2015 – One-of-a-kind Land Rover ‘Defender 2,000,000’ sells for £400,000 at charity auction
• 2016 – Last Defender rolls off the production line
• 2016 – All-new Discovery with world-first remote Intelligent Seat Fold technology launched
• 2017 – Land Rover launches the fourth Range Rover, the Velar
• 2018 – Limited Edition Range Rover SV Coupé debuts at Geneva Motor Show