• Rare early 'lights behind grille' model • Original chassis, engine and registration • Professionally restored 2017-2019 • Little used since completion • Offered from a private collection of Series I Land Rovers Inspired by the US Army's wartime 'Jeep', developed in haste and intended for short-term, small-scale production, the Land Rover would defy its creators' initial scepticism.

Rover bosses the Wilks brothers saw the need for a tough, four-wheel-drive, utility vehicle to serve the needs of the agricultural community in the immediate post-war years, but the Land Rover's runaway success following its introduction in 1948 took the company by surprise.

The necessity of using corrosion resistant aluminium panels at a time of severe steel shortage turned into a positive virtue in the Land Rover's sphere of operations, and the use of existing components - including the P3 saloon's 1,595cc, four-cylinder, inlet-over-exhaust engine - kept production costs down and cut development time.
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