Land Rover 1948 'launch' show car restored for 70th anniversary

Thursday, 11 January 2018

See the 1948 motor-show launch model return home to Land Rover.

Land Rover will mark its 70th anniversary with a series of events and celebrations in 2018, beginning with the restoration of the vehicle that started it all – one of the three pre-production Land Rovers shown at the 1948 Amsterdam Motor Show launch.

This gave the world its first glimpse of the shape that would become so recognisable as a 'Land Rover'.For years the whereabouts of this launch Land Rover was a mystery.

The demonstration vehicle from the Amsterdam show was last on the road in the 1960s, after which it spent 20 years in a Welsh field before being bought as a restoration project; it then lay languishing unfinished in a garden.

Launch Land Rover from 1948 Amsterdam Motor Show was lost for decades. Found near LR factory in UK.

This car has features unique to the pre-production models: thicker panels, removeable rear tub.

* Land Rover's $24,000 Defender pedal car**

Following its surprise discovery just outside Solihull, UK – where the car was first built – experts at Jaguar Land Rover Classic have spent months researching company archives to unravel its ownership history and confirm its provenance.

Not quite a runner, but Jaguar Land Rover Classic aims to have it pristine and driveable. In about a year.

The team behind the Land Rover Series I Reborn programme, which allowed customers to purchase meticulously restored Series I models, is embarking on a year-long mission to preserve this historically significant prototype and enable it to be driven again.

Tim Hannig, Jaguar Land Rover Classic Director, says: 'This Land Rover is an irreplaceable piece of world automotive history and is as historically important as 'Huey', the first pre-production Land Rover.

Once Land Rover got into gear, this model (eventually know as Defender) enjoyed 67 years of production.

'Beginning its sympathetic restoration here at Classic Works, where we can ensure it's put back together precisely as it's meant to be, is a fitting way to start Land Rover's 70th anniversary year.

'There is something charming about the fact that exactly 70 years ago this vehicle would have been undergoing its final adjustments before being prepared for the 1948 Amsterdam Motor Show launch.'

The Classic team will follow a dedicated process to restore the launch vehicle, which has a lot of special features that are unique to the 48 pre-production Land Rovers that were produced prior to the mass production vehicles, such as thicker aluminium alloy body panels, a galvanised chassis and a removable rear tub.

The patina of its components will be preserved, including the original Light Green paint applied in 1948.

Previous owners of this historic vehicle are being invited to the Classic Works facility to share their experiences and witness the car's restoration.

WHERE HAS THE LAUNCH LAND ROVER BEEN?

1948: Built with left-hand drive and listed as 'Experimental' on the logbook and record of sale.

1948: Upgraded with new production parts by engine department, converted to current RHD setup.

1955: First registered on 25 June 1955 with registration SNX 910.

1961: Sold to a new owner in Handsworth.

1965: Moved to Sutton Coldfield.

1967: Moved to Stratford-Upon-Avon.

1968: Moved to Alvechurch, Worcestershire.

1968: Used in Wales as a static power source.

1988: Engine seized; the Land Rover was sold to a new owner in Birmingham, UK.

2016: Spotted in a garden, destined for a restoration which never began.