Land Rover Series II / II A
After ten years of production, the Solihull-manufactured Land Rover was established as a useful 4x4, popular with farmers, armies and those whose employment took them far from the beaten track. Following a redesign, the Series II Land Rover was launched in April 1958. It was available in two wheelbases, with a choice of diesel or petrol engines and a variety of body styles including pick-ups and soft-tops and, aimed more at travel and people-carrying rather than agricultural work, short and long wheelbase Station Wagons.
The main difference that identified the new Land Rovers at a glance was the radius pressed into the aluminium bodywork below the galvanised waist rail. This changed the Land Rover's appearance considerably and was a shape that endured until 2016 in the Land Rover Defender. The Series IIA was introduced in 1961 and through a production run that last until 1971, a succession of upgrades, mainly detail and cosmetic changes, followed.
Land Rover production and sales peaked at the end of the sixties when more than 55,000 Land Rovers were sold in one year. This figure partially accounts for the popularity of the Series II/IIA Land Rovers but it is generally accepted that these were some of the strongest Land Rovers ever built - the transmission was particularly noted - and it was these that formed the basis for specialist applications such as fire tenders, mobile cinemas, military models, ambulances, campers and those used to drive winches, pumps and agricultural machinery.
Further specialisation came in the form of the Series IIA and IIB Forward Control and 'bonneted' One Ton models.
Product details
| Author: | John Carroll |
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| Details: | 96 pages, 9 x 6.7 x 0.31 in (24 x 17 x 0.8 cm), paperback |
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| Illustrations: | many b&w and color photos |
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| Language: | English |
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| Publisher: | Key Publishing Ltd (GB, 2020) |
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| Series: | Classic Vehicles |
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| ISBN: | 9781913295967 |
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