Rover Car Club Of Australia Inc

RANGE ROVER 40TH ANNIVERSARY

2010 marks the 40th Anniversary of the release of the Range Rover. The original first generation Rangie, now known as the Classic, went on sale in 1970 and continued in production, with numerous upgrades and a multiplicity of variants, for just over 25 years.

In mid June 1970, the Range Rover was launched to the press, first went on sale in the U.K. on September 1st 1970 and was the highlight of the Earls Court motor show in October 1970.

With the introduction of the Range Rover came coil-springs, self-levelling suspension, full-time four wheel drive, all-round disc-brakes and a 3.5L V8 engine - the very first model offering a three door wagon with 4-speed manual gearbox.

While the idea of a more luxurious version of the Land Rover had been around for some years, and in fact a prototype called Road Rover had been built in the 50’s, it was not until 1966 that work began on the first Range Rover prototype, known as the '100-inch station wagon'.

It was soon realised such a vehicle would require a much more powerful engine than currently available in the Land Rover. Rover had just the right engine, the 3.5 litre V8 they got the rights for from Buick, planned for use in the P5B and P6B.

The original two-door Range Rover was designed and developed by a team led by Charles Spencer King (who recently passed away after an accident) and Gordon Bashford.

The design of the Range Rover was finalized in 1969. Twenty-six engineering development vehicles were built between 1969 and 1970 and were road registered with the number plates YVB 151H through to YVB 177H. Here is a photo of one of the development vehicles. (YVB 163H)