Land Rover File in China

The Land Rover File 65 Anniversary Edition is now available in Chinese.

For English-speaking readers Land Rover File 65 Anniversary Edition is also available as an ebook.

Maria Sharapova, Marilyn Monroe and the queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips add piquancy to an endless stream of Defender, Freelander, Discovery and Range Rover in celebration of Land Rover reaching a mature and perhaps pensionable age. The anniversary marked Land Rover’s appearance at the Amsterdam Motor Show in April 1948 as a basic, slightly rural vehicle made to the exemplary engineering standards of Rover cars. It seemed unsure whether it was a car or a small truck. The Autocar thought it “A practical road and cross country vehicle.” The Motor was cautious of “… a vehicle intended to bash over far-flung parts of the empire on unmetalled tracks. So why should it be built with the same care as a Rover car? Surely something more agricultural would be better and cheaper.” SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle) was not yet invented and coming from one of Britain’s leading car factories it was obviously important. Rover, “One of Britain’s Fine Cars”, however thought of it as a temporary measure to see it through steel rationing and difficult markets.

Orders flooded in after showing it off at the Bath and West Show the month after Amsterdam, assuring not only Land Rover’s but the whole of Rover Cars’ future. The Land Rover saw farmers and small businesses through the aftermath of war, the first year’s production was only 3048 but 8000 were made in 1949, doubling the following year. Rover was soon turning out 1,000 a week, earning over £2.5 million a year in foreign currency. A bewildering assortment of open and closed Land Rovers, fire engines, military and civilian followed, doing service in every desert, jungle, swamp, mountain and trouble spot throughout the world. A half-track (below) stretched the imagination. Defender, Range Rover, Discovery, Freelander, Evoque and Range Rover Sport are detailed, with comprehensive specifications, descriptions and photographs. Roger Crathorne, Heritage and Technical PR Manager for Land Rover wrote in a Foreword: “The story of a stop-gap model that became a world wide success has been told in hundreds of books, some written not only about one model or series, but just about one particular car. The Land Rover File covers the entire span in one work of reference that answers most of the questions people ask. Departments and executives inside Land Rover rely on what Eric Dymock and his researchers have chronicled as an independent author. We may not agree with him on absolutely everything but we use this book as a working document and I commend it as objective, truthful, packed with good pictures and down-to-earth detail.”

Out now, price £8.04.
Photographs, details and specifications of every Land Rover Defender, Freelander, Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Discovery and Evoque including the aluminium Range Rover, military, special and expedition Land Rovers.
The definitive book on every Land Rover since 1948, with company history and comprehensive index.
Foreword by legendary Land Rover Heritage and Technical Manager Roger Crathorne.

Review
4x4 magazine said of THE LAND ROVER FILE, 65TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION: Eric Dymock’s Land Rover File has been produced to celebrate the first Land Rover’s appearance at the Amsterdam Motor Show and covers all models since 1947. The first version of this book was published in 2006, but quite a lot has happened since then! There is indeed a lot to enjoy here and one of the bits that made me smile was Roger Crathorne’s Foreword. Roger has, of course, worked for Land Rover for 50 of those 65 years and there’s no better man to write a foreword. Commenting about author Dymock, he states: “As an independent author, we may not agree with him on absolutely everything, but we use this book as a working document and I commend it.” That’s enough for me, if Crathorne uses it, despite the fact he might not agree with everything, I shall be keeping this on the shelf in my office. Eric Dymock has been a motoring correspondent for more years than he probably wants to admit, and his material has always had the kind of objective comment that makes a really good read, not like some of the more blinkered acolytes that make a living writing about Land Rover products.
As a book, it’s a great ‘square’ format, and has suitably high production values, which makes the cost of £22.50 particularly impressive. It’s also an independent publication, and that’s always worth supporting. Well worth putting on any 4x4 enthusiast’s bookshelf; great as a reference tool, but equally enjoyable just to dip in and out. I will be doing both. NF.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Land-Rover-File-65-anniversary-ebook/dp/B00G6SK9C4