At the end of the Second World War there was only one real off-roader in the world — the Willy’s Jeep. It was however a bit too crude and small for civilian use but it’s great off-road capabilities had been noticed by many farmers and sportsmen. In 1948 Britain’s Rover company introduced the world’s second ‘four-wheel-drive’, ‘go anywhere’ vehicle. Although it was bigger, more comfortable, sophisticated and more expensive it was an immediate success. It also had an aluminium body that did not rattle very much and did not rust at all. It quickly became the main vehicle of the British army and police and was avidly bought by many big farmers, hunters, foresters, fishermen and other rough users around the world. It was soon the mainstay of the South African safari organizers.
It did not however make much impression on Indian buyers who had access to thousands of war surplus jeeps that were later to be made in India by Mahindra & Mahindra. Over the years it became increasingly sophisticated with improved engines and transmissions to keep it ahead of competitors like Toyota who were making very comfortable off-road utility vehicles. BMW next raised the stakes with the X5 in 1999 that added the word ‘Sport’ to make UV into SUVs.
With the gradual sinking of Britain’s entire auto industry the management of Land Rover went, turn by turn, to Leyland, BMC, a new Rover Group, BMW, Ford, Premer Auto Group until August 2007 when it was taken over by India’s Tata group who continue to market it globally.
Being imported the models are expensive and have a small footprint in India except the base model the 2179cc 160HP Freelander that is around `39 lakh. The range however offers other bigger and more sophisticated models like 18HP Discovery costing About `69 lakh, the 272 HP Land Rover Sport at `82 to 95 lakh and their top model the luxurious 396HP Range Rover that costs about `120 lakh. These make for a range of vehicles that are perfect for those who want to rough it the soft way.
The writer is an automotive expert and the former editor of a national magazine