Land Rover Timeline
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Sept 4: the Land Rover project first fully explained to the
Rover Car Company Board of Directors. The project was approved
for full production (before the prototype was made)
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Oct 15: First photos of finished prototype
(80")
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Oct 16: The name "Landrover" was approved by
Board of Directors
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Apr 20: The Times first publicly reports the Land-Rover
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Apr 30: Land-Rover shown to public at Amsterdam Car show
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1949 First Land Rovers sold into USA and Canada (via Roots
Motors, Inc.)
1950 April. First show of Land Rover
in USA at British Automobile and Motorcycle show
1953 Autumn. Wheelbase lengthened from
80" to 86"
1954 Autumn. 100,000th Land Rover built
1956 Autumn. 107" introduced
Land Rover reaches agreement with Metalurgica de Santa Ana,
S.A. They build Santana Land Rovers, production reaching 18,000
by 1980.
1958 March. Series II introduced
Land Rover ends relationship with Roots Motors,
Inc and established a presence in North America as Rover Motor
Company of North America, headquartered in Toronto, Canada
1959 November. 250,000th Land Rover built
1960 US Land Rover HQ moves to New York, NY
1961 September. Series IIA announced
1962 12 Seat 109 announced for home market (to avoid
a tax)
September. 109" Forward Control announced.
1966 April. 500,000th Land Rover built
September. NADA (North American Dollar Area)
109" announced.
Rover is first non-US manufacturer to introduce
emissions controlled vehicles into USA
1967 June/July. Range Rover prototype #1 built
Rover Motor Company merges with Leyland, Leyland becomes dominant
1968
Leyland merges with British Motor Holdings (owned Jaguar and
EMC to form British Leyland Motor Corporation
1970 June. Range Rover first appears in public (2 door)
1971 June. 750,000th Land Rover built
September. SIII announced
1974 British Leyland abandons North American Market for
Land Rover
Association of Land Rover Owners of Canada (ALROC) established
4th Quarter: British Leyland nationalized
1975 British Leyland Motor Company changes its name to
British Leyland, Ltd.
Rover Owners of Virginia (ROAV) founded
1976 June. 1,000,000th Land Rover produced
1978 Land Rover, Ltd created
1979 February. Land Rover V8 (stage 1) announced
1980 British Leyland collapses in North America
1981 4 door Range Rover introduced
1982 Ottawa Valley Land Rovers (OVLR) established
as a local chapter of ALROC
1983 March: Land Rover 110 Announced at Geneva Motor
Show
4th quarter: 127" (also called 130) Crew Cab
made available
1984 Land Rover Owner Association of America (LROA)
founded
June: Land Rover 90 (92.9") launched
1987 16 March. Range Rover launched in USA
26 October. Official opening of Range Rover of North America
HQ in Maryland.
1988 British Aerospace buys Rover Group
from British Government for (pounds)150,000,000.
1989 Solihull Society founded
Land Rover Canada established
Honda buys 20% stake in Rover
1st half. Production of Discoveries (3 door) starts
September. Discovery introduced at Frankfurt Auto Show
2.5L 200 TDi (diesel) introduced, exclusively on Discovery
1990 Land Rover model name changed to Defender
200 TDi fitted to Defenders
June. Land Rover sells its 23% share of Land Rover Santana
Autumn. 5 door Discovery announced.
1992 Bay State Rover Owners Assoc. (BSROA) founded
500 Defender 110's to the USA, 25 to Canada
August. Range Rover of North America changes its name to Land
Rover of North America.
August. High Capacity Pick-up announced
Autumn. 108" Range Rover introduced
1993 The SAAB pull at the 10th OVLR Birthday Party
200 TDi fitted to Range Rovers
4th Quarter: Defender 90s first sold in US ('94 models)
1994 11 January. Last 2 door Range Rover built
31 January. Announcement of BMW buying the
Rover Group ( which includes Land Rover) from British Aerospace
for UKP 800,000,000
Discovery launched in Canada
March. Launch of Discovery (5 door) in USA
ALROC agrees to be absorbed by OVLR
200 TDi production ceases.
1995 2.5L 300 TDi introduced
February. Last Range Rover Classic built.
December. Defender imports cease in the United States.
1996 The Freelander, aka CB40, a new
Land Rover model is revalued.
1997 One final year of Defender imports
to the United States starts.
1999 Discovery Series II introduced.
2000 May. Ford buys Land Rover from
BMW for $2.7 billion
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