THIS beautiful 1949 Series I 80in is rather special. Chassis number R8667261 is the first of a batch of 1878 Land Rovers ordered on 2 May 1949, by the War Department, in what was actually the first large-scale order by the British military for Rover’s new off-road vehicle. It was given the military registration number 00BC01.
In June 1948, just weeks after the launch of the Land Rover at the Amsterdam Motor Show, Rover had loaned two pre-production demonstrators, L29 and R30, to the Ministry of Supply for evaluation and assessment. They were delivered to the FVDE (Fighting Vehicle Development Establishment) at Chertsey, Surrey, for extensive military field trials. Upon completion of the trials, the vehicles were returned to Rover and eventually sold to civilian buyers, and both survive today in the hands of enthusiasts.
The pre-pros obviously impressed the powers-that-be because an order for 20 vehicles followed swiftly, to be followed in May 1949 by the first large-scale order. The first vehicle built under this contract, the one you see here, was completed on 8 July 1949. The Ministry of Supply would eventually place 40 separate contracts for Series I Land Rovers, taking delivery of a total of 13,500 vehicles of 80, 86, 88,
