Land Rover by Ben Fogle

Author:Ben Fogle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2016-08-24T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

DEFENDER OF THE LAND

The arrival of the Series I Land Rover had a profound effect on Britain’s agriculture. The Land Rover is as much a fixture of Britain’s farming community as are the farming folk themselves. Despite the demise of the Defender and the slow creep of the Toyota Hilux, you’d be hard pushed to visit a farm in the British Isles that doesn’t have a Land Rover somewhere.

The 1947 Agriculture Act was aimed at making Britain self-sufficient in food and encouraged farmers to be more efficient and productive by mechanising their industry. This was a major influence on the Wilks brothers’ decision to produce a 4×4 aimed at farmers. They hadn’t focused the development on the military because they knew the British government was already working on its own military 4×4 – the vehicle which would become the Austin Gipsy.

The winter of 1946–7 saw record snowfall, followed by record floods, during which time Maurice Wilks’ Jeep on Anglesey had provided invaluable support. Wilks knew that a similar, hardworking vehicle that could endure such conditions and terrain would be popular amongst famers. Right from the offset, early photographs show the centre-steer prototype pulling a plough, a trailer loaded with milk churns and a seed drill, and using its power take-off (PTO) to power a saw bench – all tasks that would appeal to the farmer.

After its debut at the Amsterdam Motor Show in 1948, the next public appearances for the Land Rover were all at agricultural shows in the UK: the Royal Ulster Show, Belfast, Bath & West Show, Cardiff, Highland Show, Inverness, and the Royal Show, York. No region was left untouched. Land Rover unleashed a ferocious campaign to get farmers to buy their new vehicle.

On Tuesday 20 April 1948, the following story appeared in The Times:

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