1949 Land Rover Series 1

The Land Rover was the brainchild of Rover’s chief designer Maurice Wilks, inspired by the Willys Jeep in 1947 he wanted to improve on the concept by developing an even tougher adventuring vehicle.

Legend has it that the first rudimentary outline of the vehicle was drawn in the sand on a beach in Northern Wales.

Fast forward over 70 years and the Land Rover has spawned extreme versions created for war, for Hollywood and for extreme off-road events becoming arguable the most globally recognized product of the British automotive industry.

Early Land Rovers all shared an 80-inch wheelbase steel box-section chassis with lightweight and easily detachable aluminum panels, including doors, bonnet and windscreen, making them a versatile go-anywhere machine, whether it be tackling the Daintree or roaming the Simpson Desert.

Powering the off-roader is a 1.6 litre Inline 4-Cylinder petrol engine producing 50HP driven through a four-speed manual transmission from the Rover P3 equipped with a two-speed transfer box. The power is delivered to permanent four-wheel drive system incorporating a freewheel unit which can be locked using a ring-pull mechanism to provide a more traditional 4WD.

Available here is a very early and original right-hand drive 1949 built Land Rover Series One no. 1460 off the production line for the 1950 model year with production beginning in August of ‘49 and ceasing in July ‘50.

Not just any old Series One, this example is a very rare and highly sought-after Aluminum Bulkhead Land Rover. Normally the bulkheads were pressed steel, however during production, the press faulted for 3 weeks and to continue production they handcrafted the bulkheads using aluminum normally used for the body.

Its originality is unrivalled and possibly the most original Land Rover we’ve seen. All its original Vin/Chassis plates remain along with genuine Smiths instrumentation, the original wheels and radiator both date stamped 1949 and even wears its original canvas roof still in remarkable condition.

Maintained all its life, the car runs and drives without a hitch and having not suffered the northern hemisphere conditions the body and chassis presents undeniably in stunningly original condition with usual signs of patina as you’d expect.

With standard Series One values in the UK achieving stratospheric results, this car represents great value. A truly wonderful part of Land Rovers long history and what most would consider a Mule coin of the automotive world due to its aluminum bulkhead, this Land Rover is very collectible and a one-off prospect own, don’t miss this opportunity.