First Ever Production Land Rover Unveiled after Restoration!

[Crosswind]

The first ever production Land Rover was unveiled after its restoration in Hampton Concours of Elegance over this weekend. Yours truly was lucky enough to feast his eyes over it. Here's an excerpt of its history:

JUE 477 was originally intended for His Majesty King George VI but following its unveilng it was dispatched into the Rover Company factory on 19 July 1948, and later found its way to a Northumberland farmer, who used it for many years before abandoning it on the farm's remote moorland, where it spent decades exposed to the wild weather. 

It was later moved to a leaky, tumbledown stone barn in 1998. In 2017 it was acquired by INEOS and briefly shown at the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall, London. JUE then went into what became a deeply complex restoration, with the aim of retaining as much originality as possible – right to the point of leaving the paintwork in as-found condition, because that represents so much of its history. 

The restoration was carried out over 18 months in top secret for INEOS Automotive overseen by early Land-Rover specialist Julian Shoolheifer, fully documented by Land-Rover expert Martin Port and authenticated by Keeper Emeritus at the Science Museum, Andrew Nahum. Both gave the fully-restored car their seal of approval, confirming that JUE 477 remains almost as original today as it did when assembled in 1948.

Photos were taken (and copyrighted) by yours truly so if you wish to use them in your blogs or anything else, please seek permission. I didn't watermark them simply because I didn't wish to ruin the pics. I trust the regulars here, but vary of lurkers. Knowing our countrymates, some of them might even claim not only they took the pics but they were also behind the steering wheel!

 

Edited September 6, 2020 by Crosswind

[Kavvz]

Wow. Amazing stuff @Crosswind and what a treat to see it in person! Thanks for sharing! Its a beautiful restoration and a superb bit of PR work by INOS!  (Kudos to their marketing team: This alone would generate so much loyalty towards their brand from die hard LR fans!)

( ALSO>>: But isn't it like Covid19 central in England right now? How come they went forward with the event? And I don't see anyone wearing a mask?! What gives? Hope you wore a mask? ?) 

[Kavvz]

  On 9/6/2020 at 8:24 PM, Crosswind said:

Knowing our countrymates, some of them might even claim not only they took the pics but they were also behind the steering wheel!

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So true! ? 

[Muditha420]

Damn, that's an old gal right there. Saw the new defender here but still not sure if to love it or hate it?

[matroska]

Thanks for sharing this @Crosswind

  On 9/6/2020 at 8:24 PM, Crosswind said:

Knowing our countrymates, some of them might even claim not only they took the pics but they were also behind the steering wheel!

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Damn right. I won't be surprised to see this in a Facebook post by some two bit page with captions containing "Parana wunath yakku" " Dipendar" etc and will probably say this was taken by him ?. Also post will probably say that Northumberland is a country aand some random paint baas in the comments will say "aparade plaint ekat gahanna tibba" 

Edited September 8, 2020 by matroska

[Crosswind]

  On 9/8/2020 at 12:01 AM, Kavvz said:

Wow. Amazing stuff @Crosswind and what a treat to see it in person! Thanks for sharing! Its a beautiful restoration and a superb bit of PR work by INOS!  (Kudos to their marketing team: This alone would generate so much loyalty towards their brand from die hard LR fans!)

( ALSO>>: But isn't it like Covid19 central in England right now? How come they went forward with the event? And I don't see anyone wearing a mask?! What gives? Hope you wore a mask? ?) 

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Oh yeah. I'm not a Land Rover or a 4x4 fan at all. But seeing chassis number 1 of this iconic vehicle is a privilege for any car enthusiast. Its done so intricately and they didnt want to make it look like it rolled off the factory yesterday (which they could have done). They purposely wanted it to show its age. Above the rusty looking surface, there's an almost invisible layer of protection. 

I videoed it when it moved off the podium. Believe me it sounds like the engine is in a better condition than my less-than-a-decade old Focus (will share the video seperately).

As for COVID, the strategy here is quite clear.

• When you are outdoors, a mask is optional. When you are indoors in a public place, a mask is mandatory. I didn't wear a mask when I was outdoors but did so, when I walked through the palace (this event was held in King Henry VIII's palace garden  )
• There are some areas where COVID seems to rise once in a while. They go under local lockdown. They do this in an "agile" way
• My feeling is that media in SL seems to disproportionately blow up events that are happening overseas. But I wont comment on that as the discussion will go on a different tangent
• Also I feel people in this country have come to accept that fact that COVID will be yet another risk that people need to live with. Its no longer the leading cause of death in UK (it was, for a couple of months). It's not even among the top 10 causes of death anymore. 

 

Edited September 8, 2020 by Crosswind

[Davy]

Amazing! Thanks for sharing @Crosswind!

 

[Crosswind]

  On 9/8/2020 at 1:17 AM, Muditha420 said:

Damn, that's an old gal right there. Saw the new defender here but still not sure if to love it or hate it?

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You might like this young one... :

 

[Kavvz]

  On 9/8/2020 at 1:24 PM, Crosswind said:

You might like this young one... :

 

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In the flesh>!? Has production started then? I thought they were still ironing out the knobby bits? Wow. Why am I so excited over this I don't know...I don't even HAVE a LR. Maybe because the idea was conceived in a pub?  

Hopefully this gets popular and these buggers make money. Certainly looks better than the 'new' LR Defender I must say...and hopefully it drives the pants off it too! 

*edit just read through the link to the wiki page posted above and understood that production is to be in 2021 (this is I guess a rolling prototype). Also the wiki page states it will have as an option a straight six BMW diesel or I6 BMW petrol power plants- Yay! and a ZF automatic transmission but no manual - boo!! 

Edited September 10, 2020 by Kavvz

[Kavvz]

  On 9/8/2020 at 11:07 AM, Crosswind said:

 

As for COVID, the strategy here is quite clear.

• When you are outdoors, a mask is optional. When you are indoors in a public place, a mask is mandatory. I didn't wear a mask when I was outdoors but did so, when I walked through the palace

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I'm glad to note that the UK is doing better than we understand. However just to be on the safe side you might as well wear a mask when out anywhere in public- indoors and outdoors to minimize the risks involved...Don't want you getting sick now do we old chap. Else how are we to get more of these lovely posts?! 

Alrighty then, I'll stop being a Colombo aunty and can futher unsolicitated advice on COVID19 and await the video paitiently!  

Edited September 8, 2020 by Kavvz

[Muditha420]

  On 9/8/2020 at 1:24 PM, Crosswind said:

You might like this young one... :

 

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Haha "Young one"?

Naa... still not the Landy I like. Maybe this one might grow on me but love the name "Grenadier".

It actually looks like India (front part) and China (copied the Defender) joint up to design this?

Prefer the old one so far, maybe growing up seeing my Dad coming in a camo Defender was just the highlight.

[Crosswind]

  On 9/8/2020 at 9:44 PM, Kavvz said:

In the flesh>!? Has production started then? I thought they were still ironing out the knobby bits? Wow. Why am I so excited over this I don't know...I don't even HAVE a LR. Maybe because the idea was conceived in a pub?  

Hopefully this gets popular and these buggers make money. Certainly looks better than the 'new' LR Defender I must say...and hopefully it drives the pants off it too! 

*edit just read through the link to the wiki page posted above and unstood that production is to be in 2021 (this is I guess a rolling prototype). Also the wiki page states it will have as an option a straight six BMW diesel and petrol power plants- Yay! and a ZF automatic transmission but no manual - boo!! 

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They (cleverly) didn't allow anyone too close to the car. My guess is this prototype *might* be sitting on an LR chassis. 

[Kavvz]

  On 9/9/2020 at 6:40 AM, Crosswind said:

They (cleverly) didn't allow anyone too close to the car. My guess is this prototype *might* be sitting on an LR chassis. 

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lol ! The cheeky buggers!   The LR reps / Engineers there must have been foaming at the mouth!!