Land Rover notches up 65 years

Land Rover has welcomed media from around the world to its spiritual home, Packington Hall in Warwickshire, England, for the celebration of the company's 65th anniversary.

The event, held last week, coincided with the launch of a limited-edition Defender on a 90 Series chassis – named LXV by virtue of the Roman numerals for 65 – which won't be coming to Australia, we're told.

Packington Hall looks like a typical country estate, but was also the place where Land Rover conducted much of its vehicle testing right up until the 1970s. The estate is neatly manicured and looks unpromising for serious off-road testing, but in the early days the Land Rover was intended to be little more than "a car for farmers, gentlemen and general industrial use," as the company's own promotional literature explained. Despite the apparent limitations of the test facility, Land Rovers went on to conquer demanding terrain all around the world.

Lined up outside the home itself were examples of every significant model from the company's past – as well as quite a few obscure ones; such as the short-wheelbase 10cwt Rover tried first by motoring.com.au. Developed for the British Army and designed to be transportable by air, this particular Rover could be stripped of constituent parts down to the window line, to fit in smaller aircraft. Reassembly time was reduced considerably by having "12 squaddies" on hand to put each vehicle back together, as one of the subject matter experts explained.

This model rode harder than one of Melbourne's W-Class trams and the thinly cushioned seats were not very welcoming either. Gear selection was as hit-and-miss as a Ouija board. While the transmission did feature synchromesh, it was often preferable to double declutch for best results. The petrol donk was fairly healthy considering its age, and developed enough torque to overcome the transmission's curious ratios, thankfully. Left in high range, there was a sizeable gap between second and third, but the Land Rover's shortcomings were also exacerbated by the high first gear.

Jumping straight out of the Army Rover into a first-generation Range Rover made for a welcome change. Even now it's clear why journalists around the world praised the 1970 Rangie for its ride quality. The 3.5-litre alloy V8 was a good match for the vehicle, although the engine feels peaky by modern V8 standards.

Shift quality from the four-speed box was still rather vague, thanks to the long lever and long throws, but worse than that, the transmission was very noisy and the Range Rover of that vintage wouldn't be a very pleasant place to hold a conversation at 100km/h. Little wonder that two major changes introduced early in the vehicle's life were two extra doors and a fifth gear.

Wing mirrors at the very leading edge of the front guards seem next to useless, but in other ways the field of vision from the driver's seat is more than just 'commanding' – it's 'monarchic'. Yet the Range Rover from that era doesn't ride as high as many modern SUVs. The hip point is surprisingly close to the ground and the vehicle feels much smaller than a modern Range Rover, or even the Range Rover Sport.

In fact, an interesting exercise would be to run a tape measure over the company's Evoque and the original Range Rover to see how they compare. The Evoque might be a bit cosier inside, with all the padding and airbags eating into the exterior space, but who would lay money on the Evoque measuring a smaller footprint than its illustrious predecessor?

In addition to the cars journalists were permitted to drive, there were plenty of vehicles dotted around the property – including ex-military vehicles, emergency services vehicles and the new Range Rover Sport. The new model has been developed under the project code name L494 and will go on sale in Australia before the end of the year.

If the Range Rover Sport looks far too nice to take off-road, Land Rover had a demonstration prepared for the journalists to see how the company had never strayed far from its roots. This was literally true, with an 80 Series short-wheelbase Land Rover and a new 90-inch Defender each hooked up to a plough. Journalists were invited to plough furrows in a field driving both the old and new examples of Land Rover.

Naturally the 90 Series, with its diesel engine and anti-stall characteristics, was more refined, but the 1950s-vintage Rover was as effective when it came to getting the job done. Farmers these days wouldn't likely use a new Defender to plough fields, but to Land Rover it's important to know that the ability to multi-task remains part of the company's DNA.