Land Rover turns 70

On its 70th anniversary, Land Rover will showcase a fully restored version of the original Series I prototype from Amsterdam Motor Show of 1948. 

On April 30, 1948, Land Rover revealed its first ever pre-production vehicle at the Amsterdam Motor Show. And if you’re decent at math, you’ll realize that today marks the 70^th anniversary of the Land Rover brand. Of course, there are some celebrations in order.

Land Rover’s 70th-anniversary celebrations will kick off tonight. The British firm will reveal a fully restored prototype from the Amsterdam Show, alongside its closest modern relative, which is the exclusive Defender Works V8 that was revealed earlier this year. Only 150 of the powerful 70th edition models will be produced and Land Rover says that each of the V8 derivatives will be built by the company’s Classic division. Apart from that, the current range of the brand, including the likes of the Evoque and Velar will also be showcased over a live webcast tonight.

And, if you wish to know how the brand has progressed over the last seven decades, here’s a timeline of all the major happenings that have taken place in the brand's history,

1948     Land Rover Series I launched at the Amsterdam Motor Show

1953     Long Wheelbase version of the Series I is introduced

1956    Oxford and Cambridge teams complete on London to Singapore expedition in Series I

1958    Land Rover Series II unveiled with more refined design

1970    Original two-door Range Rover (the Classic) goes on sale

1971    Land Rover Series III launched

1972    Range Rover crosses Darien Gap on 18,000-mile Trans-America expedition

1976    1,000,000th Land Rover built

1979    A Range Rover wins the inaugural Paris-Dakar rally (and again in 1981)

1981    Land Rover begins legendary partnership with Camel Trophy

1981    Four-door Range Rover released

1989    Land Rover Discovery, the third Land Rover model, goes on sale

1990    Original ‘Landie’ relaunched and renamed Defender

1994    Second generation Range Rover launched

1997    All-new Freelander is unveiled with innovative new technology: Hill Descent Control

2001    Third-generation Range Rover with all-round independent air suspension revealed

2003    Inaugural G4 challenge sees 16 teams traverse USA, South Africa and Australia

2004    Range Stormer Concept previews performance Range Rover and three-door body

2004    Discovery 3/LR3, the third-generation Discovery, launched at New York Motor Show

2005    All-new Range Rover Sport unveiled

2006    Freelander 2/LR2 launched. The first Land Rover to be manufactured at Halewood

2008    LRX concept car previews design language of a new luxury compact SUV

2009    Fourth generation of the Land Rover Discovery introduced

2010    Range Rover Evoque, the world’s first luxury compact SUV, makes global debut

2012    Fourth-generation Range Rover introduced – the first all-aluminium SUV

2013    New generation of Range Rover Sport unveiled at New York Motor Show

2014    Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division is officially launched

2014    Range Rover Sport SVR debuts, the fastest, most agile, most powerful Land Rover

2014    Discovery Vision Concept previews design vision for new family of Discovery vehicles

2014    Launch of Discovery Sport, a new premium compact SUV with 5+2 seating

2015    Trio of end-of-line Defender editions revealed with biggest sand drawing in UK

2015    Exclusive Range Rover SVAutobiography long wheelbase launched in New York

2015    Evoque Convertible becomes world’s first luxury compact SUV convertible

2015   One-of-a-kind Land Rover 'Defender 2,000,000' sells for £400,000 at a charity auction

2016    Last Defender rolls off the production line

2016    All-new Discovery with world-first remote Intelligent Seat Fold technology launched

2017    Land Rover launches the fourth Range Rover, the Velar

2018    Limited Edition Range Rover SV Coupé debuts at Geneva Motor Show

Also read: Special edition Land Rover Defender revealed with 400bhp