How a sand drawing spawned the birth of Land Rover

A line in the sand. For many it is a metaphor for a fresh start. For Maurice and Spencer Wilks, it was a literal line in the sand that sparked not only a fresh start for a car manufacturer, but the beginning of a legend that lives to this day, 70 years on — Land Rover.

The idea for a ‘go anywhere, do anything’ car came about almost accidentally. Rover, the luxury car company, was looking for a change in direction. It was the mid-1940s, a post-war era where there was a need to export products in order to get the most out of their business. Many ideas were floated, but it was the military Jeeps used during the war that captured the imagination.

Maurice Wilks resonated with this due to his love of the outdoors and active lifestyle. It was also important for the product to have export potential as a high rate of export was directly linked to the amount of steel the government would allocate to the company.

A beach conversation

In order to facilitate the conversation, Spencer and Maurice Wilks met on the beach at Anglesey to discuss what kind of vehicle they would need to secure the future of the company. During the conversation, the outline of a vehicle was drawn in the sand, which took inspiration from the aforementioned military vehicles.

And so came to pass the concept of the Land Rover. This was the all-purpose vehicle that farmers, the military and anybody else who may find themselves negotiating rough terrain were looking for.

There were some considerations to be had, such as protection from the weather — the military Jeeps were very basic vehicles with little or no comfort or features for the driver. They were also difficult to operate for an average driver, with levers to pull, buttons to press and processes to negotiate. The Land Rover Series I made all of this simplistic.

The concept of the car was formed in October 1947. The vehicle was launched in April 1948. Vehicles were being sold to customers in August 1948. The Land Rover went from concept to sale within 10 months — the fastest production of a vehicle in history.

There was a heavy reliance on the Commonwealth for the initial export of the vehicles and assembly plants were set up in Melbourne and Calcutta. Parts manufactured in the United Kingdom would be shipped out to these plants where the vehicles would be put together.

India has always had links with the Land Rover. There are records of the Indian military being offered the use of Land Rovers as military vehicles and the cars were prominent in the Darjeeling tea plantations as the preferred mode of transport.

While the Series I was the ultimate functional vehicle, it also had an element of pure entertainment about it. This was a car that could ‘go anywhere’ and ‘do anything’ in the words of Maurice Wilks.

The advent of the Land Rover becoming a medium of adventure and discovery was basically an accident however. On the first annual Friends and Family Day, in April 1949 — a year in which 8,000 units were sold — rides were offered to children in the Series I. At least initially it was just for the children.

By the end of the day, 4,000 people had an off-road driving experience in a Series I. This was the next phase of the marketing of the Land Rover, where for all its capability and durability, it was a whole lot of fun too.

By the end of the 1950s, sales had hit the 50,000 mark. A growing brand began to develop its portfolio, with the launch of the Range Rover in 1970, which was another leap for the company as they created a luxury vehicle with all the capability of a typical Land Rover.

By then, Maurice Wilks had passed away and Spencer Wilks had retired and the decision was made to sell shares in the company to British Leyland who also had Jaguar in their portfolio alongside Triumph and Austin. The Discovery then joined the Land Rover family in 1989, at which point the Defender name had been introduced for the Land Rover 90” and 110” models. This completed the three Land Rover pillars that survive to this day.

Changing hands

The second generation Range Rover spawned the next sale of the company, as there was a desire for a new diesel engine for the car. BMW were able to supply the engine but bought the whole company in order to do so, buying Rover, Land Rover and Mini.

BMW would go on to sell Land Rover to Ford to fund investment in other areas, including Formula One. It was at this point that Land Rover once again came across Jaguar, with Ford being the parent company of both brands.

Land Rover was again the pawn in a dire financial situation and the brand was sold to Tata Motors, along with Jaguar, who brought the two icons together to create Jaguar Land Rover.

This started another period of growth for the company, with new models such as the Range Rover Sport and Range Rover Evoque. The smaller SUV segment that Evoque broke new ground on is now full of competitors who have followed the company’s lead.

Land Rover continues to plough its own furrow. The established family of pillars of Range Rover, Discovery and Defender stand out in front as leaders in refinement, capability and durability. The future holds many opportunities for the brand and if history is anything to go by, we simply will not be able to tell what they will come up with next.

The writer is Land Rover Classic Product Specialist

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