Land Rover: Off-roader celebrates 76th anniversary

The Second World War showed, among other things, the value of a primary four-wheel drive vehicle. The success of the American Jeep inspired the Wilkes brothers, Maurice and Spence, who at the time ran the Rover Company to think of a British version.

Launched in 1948, customers were never in short supply of their creation of the Land Rover. There were some unexpected owners for such a sparse and utilitarian car, including King George VI and Winston Churchill. However, once the British Army embraced it as their vehicle of choice, the Land Rover’s place in motoring’s Hall of Fame was secured.

In Uganda, the Land Rover was well received in the early 70s to the late 80s as the favourite military vehicle for the government and subsidiary corporations, including the British colonial government. Since then, the company has gone on to invent the concept of the luxury 4x4 with the launch of the Range Rover in 1970.

It has added further to the distinguishable stable with the Discovery and the Freelander.

Today’s Land Rover line-up includes the Discovery and Discovery Sport, Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Velar, Range Rover Evoque and the all-new Land Rover Defender, which was revamped from the classic version to a modern all-capable vehicle.

Chris Jaramogi Otim has driven the Land Rover Defender 110 2001 model with a 2500cc engine for approximately five years. He was inspired by his cousin, Nelson Ojwiya, who owned two Land Rover Defenders at the time.

“One day, while in Katosi, Mukono District, during a tag-of-war challenge, I watched the Land Rover effortlessly drive through mud and ditches. On this day, I made up my mind to buy one,” Otim recalls.

He adds that a Land Rover Defender can be driven anywhere and through any terrain, if serviced well. He has driven his to Amuru, Nimule at the border of Uganda and South Sudan, Kabale and Kisoro districts, and he has never suffered any mechanical faults.

Brand history  

The first car the brand produced was the Series 1, whose headlights were in the nose of the car. It was followed by Series 2, 2A, 2B and other sub-models.

While the Series 1 was identifiable with two front headlights, the Series 2 had a short and long wheelbase. The Series 3 were produced until the end of the World War. Locally, they are the kind you see on the road being used as towing cars, popularly known as breakdowns and were produced from the 1970s until the early 1980s.

The Range Rover

The Range Rover Classic was introduced in the late 1970s into the early 1980s. Land Rover designed petrol and diesel engines to have two variations, depending on user needs. The Range Rover had a V8 engine, while many had petrol engines with the diesel version introduced later. From the Classic Land Rover to the modern version, the P38, once owned by musician Moses Ssali, known as Bebe Cool, came the Range Rover Sport.

Land Rover Defender

Around 1983, the company realised it needed to make a car better than the Series 3 in terms of comfort and drivability, among other reasons. They modified the vehicle to something more rugged but one that motorists could use for more purposes than just driving to farms and military grounds.

In the early 1980s, the Land Rover Defender was born as the Land Rover 90 and 110. It was not immediately named as the Defender. There were two guises; the Defender 110, with 110, meaning the length of the chassis (110 inches long) that was the long wheelbase. The short wheelbase was the Defender 90, which is 90 inches long. The leaf springs were replaced with coil springs. The steering was old-fashioned. They improved on several features. The body remained aluminium but needed to be kept light because it was, among other reasons, easy to be airlifted by war helicopters in war zones.

One of the features that made the Defender popular during its time was its hardened, yet simple body frame. There were options to remove parts of the vehicle body but leave the vehicle in running condition. It was utilitarian but carried people, though it could have been more comfortable. It was a capable car that could do a lot of things. The significant advance was the addition of coil springs, which guaranteed a far smoother ride. The first models were only available with the old 2,286cc petrol or diesel engines.

Still, by the following year, the V8 cylinder petrol engines had been introduced and very soon after that, the petrol and diesel engines were upgraded to 2,495cc. Maximum power jumped as a consequence to 83bhp at 4000 revolutions per minute and maximum torque was increased to improve the performance of the Defender. The company used different engines in different models. Production of the Defender continued until 2015, when the iconic boxy shape was discontinued.

Engines

There were changes in the engines. With each version, the engines got better. By 1994, a 300Tdi diesel engine had increased maximum power to 111bhp at 4000rpm. Comparative figures for the V8 cylinder 3500cc petrol engine remained as they had done for previous models. The 2000s saw the introduction of the TD5 engine and later the Defender Puma that ran on a Ford Engine in a 2200cc and 2400cc Dura torque TDCI engine. They were modernised and fitted with more comfort and safety features not included in the earlier models.

 “Tdi means turbocharged diesel injection. It was just a newer engine with a lot of power. Because of safety reasons, from the factory, their speed would be clocked to 130km/hr with an option to let it go beyond that if the dealership or mechanic knows what they are doing. Defenders were not built for speed, one of the reasons their shape was not aerodynamic. There are other rare guises of the Defender, such as the Defender 130, which was a double cabin pick-up. In average production, it was the longest Defender,” says Ronnie William Kyazze, a Land Rover motorist with more than 15 years’ experience. 

Single-cabin Pick-up

There was also the Defender single-cabin pick-up, such as the Defender 110 1988 model with a high-capacity body upgraded with a Td5 engine, owned by Emmanuel Muyombya, a Land Rover spare parts supplier and mechanic.

“Apart from changing tyres and normal service, I have never had any issues with the Land Rover. Even with its UDD number plate, it can hold its own on the road. In 2022, it was used in the Pearl of Africa rally for route opening and as an emergency vehicle in Lugazi and it performed exceptionally, despite the terrain,” Muyombya says of the car he has owned since 2000. 

There were also the station wagon Defender 90 and 110, Defender 110 box body, and Defender 130 and 110 single cabins. Other unofficial models, such as the Defender 147, were manufactured in small numbers and in a particular order.  

As the Defender production continued, motorists needed luxury and comfort and not just a car that can be driven in rough terrains. Motorists wanted a family car that could be driven in urban areas and this was how the Land Rover Discovery was introduced in the early 1980s. It started with the Discovery 1 as a three-Door and later as a four-Door.

 Land Rover organised a competition called the Camel Trophy, which involved yellow cars. These cars would go in different years in different mapped places, showing what the vehicles were made of and everything about Land Rovers.

The Range Rover Classic participated when the competition started, but the Defender was prominent for many years. Before the Discovery, the brand-new Defenders were the support vehicles.

Camel trophy cars were modified for their expedition. It was not about racing but rather, the challenges of overcoming rugged terrain. In the end, whoever participated was a winner.

The Freelander

After the Discovery, the Freelander was introduced in 1998 as a smaller SUV, but production of the other models continued. Unfortunately, the Freelander was not welcomed much by the Land Rover fraternity. Some enthusiasts call it the only failed Land Rover model. Many things synonymous with Land Rover, such as the diff lock were removed. In some, the 4WD system was optional.

Land Rover Discovery

The Land Rover Discovery came in variations of three and four-door. The 1991 model came with 200Tdi and 300Tdi engines. Each version of the Discovery 1 to Discovery 4 manufactured from 1989 to 2015 had improved looks and features. The Discovery 1 and 2 were fitted with the 200Tdi and 300Tdi for the Diesel versions and a V8 engine for the Petrol versions. The Discovery 2 got a Td5 2500cc and V8 4000cc. The Discovery 3 and 4 were refined with 2700cc and 3000cc, respectively.

The Discovery 3 was first made with a 2700cc turbocharged diesel engine and the V8. Depending on affordability, it came in trims, including basic and luxury versions and the high-spec edition (HSE). Land Rover went ahead and made the newer and fancy Discovery Sport edition.

The latest editions 

The latest SUVs, such as Range Rover Vogue, Autobiography, Velar and the Sport, resulted from improving the original Range Rover, hand in hand with other versions. They are all identified by their engines. The Range Rovers continued production from the Classic to the Range Rover with 2500cc, 4500cc, 4200cc and 4000cc. Range Rover has several guises, including the Range Rover Vogue and other sub-models such as the Range Rover Sport, Evoque and Velar, which would be improved mainly for premium clients over the years.

After 2015, the boxy classic Land Rover Defender production was discontinued and the 2020 and newer models were introduced. Although modern and with more electronic features, it is still hardened and more capable than the older versions in terms of performance.

General features 

Haroon Kakembo, an enthusiast who has driven a number of Land Rover models, says some features that made the British brands reliable include engines with prolonged wear and tear rates.

“One of the best engines Land Rover ever made was the 200Tdi, locally known as “kabawo” by local Ugandan mechanics, which does not easily overheat. Some of the well-known Land Rover engines of all time are the 200Tdi and 300Tdi. The 200 and 300 TDi are rugged, durable engines that generally run for long miles with routine maintenance,” Kakembo says.

Many owners who are members of the Land Rover Uganda Club have driven them for more than 450,000 kilometres on the clock, and the bores, pistons, crank journals and camshafts, are almost unworn.

However, the 200 TDi had a few weak spots, and when Land Rover reworked the design to produce the 300 TDi, ill-advised cost-cutting introduced a few more. Land Rovers also have some of the most affordable parts. For instance, you can get a set of four Land Rover Defender shock absorbers at approximately Shs800,000.

Expedition trails

Long before other car manufacturers recognised the benefits of participating in overseas events for publicity, Land Rover was sponsoring organised expeditions such as the Camel Trophy and the G4 Challenge. These did not just spread the marque’s fame but also proved invaluable in feedback from the drivers on how the vehicles had performed in inhospitable terrain.

 The Camel Trophy was one of the most successful events in Land Rover’s history. Although only three entrants took part in the inaugural 1980 competition, Land Rover took over the sponsorship of the event and provided vehicles for each country that had agreed to participate. The number of entrants ranged from 12 to 18 over the years, and the competition was staged in inhospitable places such as Borneo, Siberia, and Mongolia.

Following Land Rover’s decision not to continue with the Camel Trophy amid concerns about damaging the environment, focusing on special tasks other than the capability of the Land Rovers in the competition, and other reasons, the company launched the G4 Challenge in 2003.