Our featured classic vehicle is a beautiful 1969 Land Rover Series IIa. The Land Rover is a British Off-Road vehicle launched in 1948 and in addition to civilian buyers was used extensively by the British military. Among the owners of the Land Rover over the years were BMW (2000), Ford Motor Company (2005), and from 2008 to the present time Land Rover is owned by the Indian company, Tata Motors.
The Early Land Rover
The Land Rover was introduced during post World War Two as the British answer to America’s Willys Jeep. The British Land Rover, most would say, was Britain’s reply to the go anywhere U.S Army World War II vehicle fondly called the Jeep. In fact, the British Land Rover adopted most of it’s traits directly from the Jeep. Just like the Jeep, the Land-Rover was built for tough off road work. It was a vehicle that was built to do the tasks other vehicles of the time could not.
While the Willys Jeep was the first of such a vehicle, it actually was the British who carried the concept even further. The first British Land Rover model (see specs below) was very similar to the Jeep. If you didn’t see the nameplate of the first Land Rover model you may have easily mistaken it for a Willys Jeep. While the first Land Rover mimicked the Jeep in so many ways, there were notable differences. These included fully enclosed front wheels, sharper angular fenders, and head lights mounted behind mesh grille guards.
The early Land-Rover was a four wheel drive “go anywhere” vehicle. Series I through III were produced from 1948 to 1980. The Series II which is our featured vehicle was produced from 1968 to 1971. There was a Series IIA which was built beginning in 1961 and is basically a hybride between a Series II and Series III.
Later models of the British Land Rover Series II came with a variety of options. The Series II pretty much represented the classic Land Rover. Two or four wheel drive and gasoline or diesel engines. In 1970, Land-Rover introduced the more rider friendly Range Rover which had a variety of creature comforts not found in the earlier Land-Rovers. The Range Rover meant to be a more luxurious vehicle. Ruggedness and comfort was the aim and the Range Rover was essentially like many of today’s SUV’s.
The Land Rover Series II and IIa / Engines and Differences