Land Rover Series I, Ii, Iia 1948-1971 -Gold Portfolio

Covers the I, II, & IIA, short & long wheel base, Diesel and Petrol 4, 6, V8 cylinder. Contains 58 articles sourced from leading automotive magazines. Includes off-road & road tests, buyers? guides, new model updates, technical data, history, & touring. It never ceases to amaze some people that there is so much interest in Land Rovers today. After all, they were neither glamorous nor especially expensive when new; there were thousands of them, so exclusivity can not be part of the appeal; and they were designed primarily as commercial vehicles and are not particularly good for families or long-distance driving. Well, if you believe that, I am surprised that you've picked up this book at all. The Land Rover enthusiast movement may have embraced the later passenger-carrying Land Rover products such as the Range Rover and the Discovery, but it started with the vehicles that this book is about. Not too long after the Land Rover surprised its own makers by becoming a world-wide success, owners began to discover that they could actually have fun with these vehicles by pitting driver and machine against an organised off-road trials course. You didn't need passengers for that, but it was something you couldn't do in any other enthusiast vehicle straight off the production line. These days, it's more often the newer vehicles which are used for trialling, although there are still plenty of the older ones about in the sport. The better survivors of the Land Rovers built in the marque's first quarter-century, though, tend to be preserved, rebuilt, and cherished, just like classic cars. If you're bewildered by the names given to early Land Rovers, then here is a quick guide to help. Series Is were built between 1948 and 1958, Series IIs between 1958 and 1961, and Series IIAs from 1961 to 1971. Within those broad groupings, the models are mainly defined by their wheelbase length: 80-inch from 1948 to 1953, 86-inch and 107-inch from 1953 to 1956, and 88-inch and 109-inch thereafter. As for the engines, the petrol types were 1.6-litre four-cylinders from 1948 to 1951, 2-litres from 1951 to 1958, and 2.25-litres from 1958 on. There was also a six-cylinder 2.6-litre petrol from 1966 in the USA and from 1967 elsewhere (although it had appeared in 1962 in the Forward Control models). Diesels didn't arrive until 1957, initially in 2-litre form and then from 1961 with a 2.25-litre capacity. Once you know all that, the information within these pages will all make sense as well as making great reading. Covers the Series I which was built between 1948 & 1958, Series IIs between 1958 & 1961 & Series IIAs from 1961 to 1971. 58 articles cover off road & road tests, buyers guides, new model updates, technical data, history & touring. 168 pages, 23 in colour.