The meaning of Land Rover to the average person on the street has shifted considerably since the first model appeared 75 years ago. Nowadays it’s more likely to be associated with luxury and affluence than for rugged off-road capability, with models like the Range Rover Velar the darling of the rich and famous and the Discovery more associated with the school run rather than ploughing through the mud. Even the new Defender is a far cry from what might be deemed utilitarian.
The Defender, of course, is the model that’s the closest descendant of the original Land Rover of 1948. But even before the previous Defender hit the end of the line in 2016, it was a world apart from the first Series 1 models. The later incarnations were still used as a workhorse for farmers, country folk and anybody who needs to haul around a trailer weighing up to three and a half tonnes, but the appeal had extended to other walks of life, including trendy city dwelling types liking the idea of a ‘proper’ 4x4 with iconic status rather than a modern SUV. But how did the vehicle that began life as an off-road workhorse shortly after the end of World War II end up as an icon of
