Land Rover Range Rover Classic
Encyclopedia
The Range Rover Classic is a 4x4
luxury SUV
series built by British car maker Land Rover
from 1970 to 1996. It was the first generation of vehicles produced under the Range Rover
name. For most of its history, it was known simply as the "Range Rover"; Land Rover coined the term "Range Rover Classic" for the brief period the model was built alongside its P38A successor, and applied the name retrospectively to all first-generation Range Rovers.
4x4 launched in 1948 proved to a be a worldwide success; within two years it was vastly outselling the company's usual product of semi-luxury cars. The Land Rover had been designed to be cheap and easy to produce and to suit hard work in tough terrain. It was thus a very simple, basic vehicle with a minimum of concessions to comfort- on early vehicles the canvas
hood, passenger seats and even doors were optional extras. From the beginning Rover realised that a market existed for a Land Rover that was off-road capable but more comfortable and civilised. In 1949 it released the Land Rover Station Wagon
with a coachbuilt wood-framed body by Tickford
. Whilst a big improvement on the standard vehicle (the Tickford had seven seats, floor carpets, a heater, a one-piece windscreen and other car-like features) its hand-built nature kept prices high and fewer than 700 were sold before sales were stopped in 1951.
In 1954 Land Rover launched its second type of Land Rover Station Wagon, this time built by the company itself. The new version was much more successful but was aimed more at the commercial user who needed an off-road people carrier rather than the buyer requiring car like comfort in an off-roader. The Station Wagon was based on the commercial variant of the Land Rover but with seats fitted to the load space and windows cut into the sides. Whilst available with features such as an interior light, heater, door and floor trims and upgraded seats the Station Wagon retained the base vehicles tough and capable but firm suspension as well as its mediocre road performance.
By the late 1950s Rover remained convinced that a market existed for a vehicle combining the toughness and ability of the Land Rover with the comfort of a Rover saloon car. In 1958 the first of the 'Road Rover' concepts were built. These were a series of development cars built by the engineering department consisting of Land Rover chassis and running gear clothed in a functional but car-like estate car
body. The Road Rover was aimed at markets such as Africa and Australia where ordinary motorists faced long journeys on unmade roads where a vehicle with four-wheel drive and tough suspension was a benefit.
By the 1960s Rover was becoming aware of the development of the Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) in North America. SUVs such as the International Harvester Scout
and the Ford Bronco
offered a different blend of off- and on-road ability to existing utility 4x4s such as the Land Rover and the Jeep
, proving capable of good on-road comfort and speed whilst retaining more than adequate off-road ability for most private users. The Jeep Wagoneer
proved the concept further. The final element of what would become the Range Rover concept was provided by the President of Rover's USA operations who, frustrated by the lack of suitable vehicles from Britain to compete with the new crop of SUVs sent Rover a Land Rover Series II 88 fitted with a Buick V8
which offered far greater on-road performance and refinement than any Land Rover currently in production.
Rover acknowledged the emergence of this new market for recreational off-roaders and in 1967 began the '100-inch Station Wagon' programme to develop a radical car to compete, with Charles Spencer King
in charge. King quickly defined the basic layout of the new vehicle, realising that only long-travel coil spring
s could provide the required blend of luxury car comfort and Land Rover-like off-road ability (King is said to have been convinced by coil springs when driving a Rover P6
across rough scrubland on part of the Solihull
factory site that was being redeveloped, but Rover also bought a Ford Bronco
which featured such a suspension system in the early stages of the 100-inch SW programme). Spencer King was also convinced that a permanent four wheel drive
transmission was needed to provide both adequate handling and to reliably absorb the power that would be required by the vehicle if it was to be competitive. This required a totally new transmission unit to be developed but Rover spread development costs between the 100-inch SW project and that working on what would become the Land Rover 101 Forward Control
. The adoption by Rover of the Buick alloy V8 engine had provided the perfect powerplant for the new 4x4, being powerful, light and sturdy. Various modifications were made to the design to suit use in the Range Rover such as fitting different carburretors that maintained fuel supply at extreme angles and making provision for the engine to use a starting handle in emergencies.
The final design, launched in 1970 with bodywork styled largely by the engineering team rather than David Bache
's styling division, was marketed as 'A Car For All Reasons'. In its original guise the Range Rover was more capable off-road than the Land Rover but was much more comfortable, offered a top speed in excess of 100 mph (44.7 m/s), a towing capacity of 3.5 tons, spacious accommodation for five people and groundbreaking features such as an four-speed, dual-range, permanent four-wheel-drive gearbox and hydraulic disc brake
s on all wheels.
, save for the two-section rear tailgate, and the bonnet
on all but the earliest models. Apart from minor cosmetic changes, the body design changed very little in its first decade. However, whilst utility Land Rovers had body panels rolled from a single sheet of aluminium, the Range Rover used aluminium panels hung on a steel 'safety frame' (a method pioneered with great success on the Rover P6
saloon). This allowed the bodywork of the Range Rover to carry much greater structural strength via the steel frame whilst retaining the corrosion-resistant and easily repaired aluminium outer panels. Whilst the steel frame was designed by the engineering team, it was expected that Rover's stylist David Bache
would provide a design for the outer panels for use on the production vehicles. For the prototypes the engineers designed their own functional body panels simply to protect the occupants and to allow the vehicles to be driven legally on the road. However the clean, square-cut and functional design of the prototype was deemed so good that Bache only altered the detailing, such as providing a different front grille and headlamp design.
One of the first significant changes came in 1981, with the introduction of a four-door body. Until then, Range Rovers only had two doors, making access to the rear seats rather awkward. These doors were also very large and heavy. Several companies offered conversions to four doors in the late 1970s. One by the company Monteverdi was approved for warranty purposes by Land Rover and was closely followed when the company produced its own development. The four-door version was received well by the public; its popularity being such that the two-door was discontinued in the United Kingdom in 1984, although the two-door continued to be produced to the end, mainly for the French market. The front end of the Range Rover was revamped in 1986. This brought a more pedestrian-friendly plastic grille with horizontal slats, and optional front valance with two fog lights. Mirrors were now mounted on the door pillar rather than the doors, the seat base was lowered and door handles were redesigned, making it more difficult for rear passengers but greatly improving the comfort for taller people in the front. Other changes include the windows, tailgate and bonnet but none of those affected the general design
s instead of the then-common leaf spring
s. Because of its hefty weight, it also had disc brake
s on all four wheels. Originally, it had no power steering
, though this was added a few years after its introduction.
One problem with the Range Rover chassis was that it suffered considerably from body roll
. Because of this, the suspension was lowered by 20 mm (0.78740157480315 in) in 1980, and later gained anti-roll bars
. Air suspension was introduced in late 1992 for high-end 1993 models.
Most Range Rovers had a 100 inches (2,540 mm) wheelbase
. However, 1992 saw the introduction of a more luxurious model, branded the LSE in the United Kingdom and County LWB (long wheelbase) in the United States providing expansive rear-passenger legroom absent from the 100-inch wheelbase models. These had a 108 inches (274 cm) wheelbase and 4.2 litre engines.
The 100-inch Range Rover chassis became the basis for the Land Rover Discovery
, introduced in 1989.
-derived Rover V8 engine
. The 3528 cc engine was bored out to a displacement
of 3947 cc for the 1990 model year, and 4197 cc in 1992.
Petrol-fuelled Range Rovers were fitted with carburettors
until 1986, when they were replaced by Lucas electronic fuel injection
, improving both performance and fuel economy. The Lucas injection system continued to evolve over the next several years, culminating in the 1990 to 1995 Lucas 14CUX
. Some export markets retained carburettors, with the original Zenith/Stromberg
manufactured units being replaced by Skinners Union (SU)-manufactured items.
From 1979 onwards, Land Rover collaborated with Perkins on Project Iceberg, an effort to develop a diesel version of the Range Rover's 3.5 litre V8 engine.
Both naturally aspirated and turbocharged versions were built, but the all-alloy engine blocks failed under the much greater pressures involved in diesel operation. The project was, therefore, abandoned. The effort to strengthen the Rover V8 for diesel operation was not, however, completely wasted; the 4.2 litre petrol variant of the engine used crankshaft castings developed in the Iceberg project.
Because of the Iceberg failure, it was not until 1986 that Range Rovers gained diesel engines from the factory. The more efficient 2393 cc I4 VM diesel from Italy was made available as an option for the heavily taxed European market as the 'Turbo D' model, and were bored out to 2499 cc in 1989. The VM engines were highly advanced and refined diesel engines for their time but were received poorly by the UK press, who tended to compare their performance to the V8 models. To counter these criticisms Land Rover used a Turbo D Range Rover to set several speed and endurance records for diesel vehicles during 1987, including a continuous run over 24 hours at over 100 mph (44.7 m/s). The VM were replaced by Land Rover's own 200Tdi turbocharged
diesel engine in 1992. and 300Tdi at the end of 1994.
, rather than the switchable rear-wheel/four-wheel drive on Land Rover's Series
vehicles, and had a lever for switching ratios on the transfer box
for off-road use. Originally, the only gearbox available was a four-speed manual
unit (with an optional Fairey
overdrive
after 1977). A three-speed Chrysler
automatic gearbox became an option in 1982, which was upgraded to a 4-speed ZF box in 1985, coupled to an LT230 transfer box. The other major transmission upgrade in the Range Rover's lifetime was the switch from the LT95 combined four-speed manual gearbox and transfer box to the LT77 five-speed gearbox and separate LT230 transfer box in 1983. The LT230 was later used on both the Defender and Discovery
models, but was replaced on the Range Rover by a Borg Warner chain-driven transfer box incorporating an automatic viscous coupling
limited slip differential - earlier transmissions had a manual diff lock (operated by a vacuum
servo on the LT95 and mechanically on the LT230). The LT77 had two major design changes: first an upgrade to larger bearings for the layshaft and new ratios around 1988, then a newly designed synchro hub for third and fourth gear and double sunchros for first and second. This is also known as the suffix H gearbox or LT77s.
In 1995, both 300 tdi and V8 Range Rovers were fitted with an R380 gearbox which is identical to those in the same generation of the Discovery. The same gearbox was later fitted to the P38 model The r380 comes this full synchronization even for the reverse gear.
Notable off-road feats were winning the four-wheel drive class in the first Paris-Dakar Rally
in 1979 and 1981, and being two of the first vehicles (along with a Land Rover Series IIA
) to traverse both American continents north-to-south through the Darién Gap
from 1971 to 1972.
's two popemobile
s, used on his visit to Scotland in 1982, was a Range Rover, the other was a 24-tonne truck built by British Leyland.
). Only 200 CSK models were ever made, all of which were two-door vehicles. For a while, King owned number 200, but this has since been sold on.
Four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4×4 is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously...
luxury SUV
Sport utility vehicle
A sport utility vehicle is a generic marketing term for a vehicle similar to a station wagon, but built on a light-truck chassis. It is usually equipped with four-wheel drive for on- or off-road ability, and with some pretension or ability to be used as an off-road vehicle. Not all four-wheel...
series built by British car maker Land Rover
Land Rover
Land Rover is a British car manufacturer with its headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom which specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors, forming part of their Jaguar Land Rover group...
from 1970 to 1996. It was the first generation of vehicles produced under the Range Rover
Range Rover
The Range Rover is a large luxury four-wheel drive sport utility vehicle produced by British car maker Land Rover. The model, launched in 1970, is now in its third generation...
name. For most of its history, it was known simply as the "Range Rover"; Land Rover coined the term "Range Rover Classic" for the brief period the model was built alongside its P38A successor, and applied the name retrospectively to all first-generation Range Rovers.
Concept and design
Although only intended to be a post-war stopgap, the Rover Company's Land RoverLand Rover Series
The Land Rover Series I, II, and III are off-road vehicles produced by the British manufacturer Land Rover that were inspired by the US-built Willys Jeep...
4x4 launched in 1948 proved to a be a worldwide success; within two years it was vastly outselling the company's usual product of semi-luxury cars. The Land Rover had been designed to be cheap and easy to produce and to suit hard work in tough terrain. It was thus a very simple, basic vehicle with a minimum of concessions to comfort- on early vehicles the canvas
Canvas
Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...
hood, passenger seats and even doors were optional extras. From the beginning Rover realised that a market existed for a Land Rover that was off-road capable but more comfortable and civilised. In 1949 it released the Land Rover Station Wagon
Station wagon
A station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...
with a coachbuilt wood-framed body by Tickford
Tickford
Tickford is an automobile engineering and testing company with a history of coachbuilding and tuning and is famous for such products as the 140 mph Tickford Turbo Capri.-Early years:...
. Whilst a big improvement on the standard vehicle (the Tickford had seven seats, floor carpets, a heater, a one-piece windscreen and other car-like features) its hand-built nature kept prices high and fewer than 700 were sold before sales were stopped in 1951.
In 1954 Land Rover launched its second type of Land Rover Station Wagon, this time built by the company itself. The new version was much more successful but was aimed more at the commercial user who needed an off-road people carrier rather than the buyer requiring car like comfort in an off-roader. The Station Wagon was based on the commercial variant of the Land Rover but with seats fitted to the load space and windows cut into the sides. Whilst available with features such as an interior light, heater, door and floor trims and upgraded seats the Station Wagon retained the base vehicles tough and capable but firm suspension as well as its mediocre road performance.
By the late 1950s Rover remained convinced that a market existed for a vehicle combining the toughness and ability of the Land Rover with the comfort of a Rover saloon car. In 1958 the first of the 'Road Rover' concepts were built. These were a series of development cars built by the engineering department consisting of Land Rover chassis and running gear clothed in a functional but car-like estate car
Station wagon
A station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...
body. The Road Rover was aimed at markets such as Africa and Australia where ordinary motorists faced long journeys on unmade roads where a vehicle with four-wheel drive and tough suspension was a benefit.
By the 1960s Rover was becoming aware of the development of the Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) in North America. SUVs such as the International Harvester Scout
International Harvester Scout
Scout 80s were built between 1960 and 1965. These models were identifiable by removable sliding side windows in 1960–1961 and even some very early 1962 models, a fold-down windshield, vacuum windshield wipers mounted to the top of the windshield and an IH logo in the center of the grille...
and the Ford Bronco
Ford Bronco
The Ford Bronco is a sport utility vehicle that was produced from 1966 to 1996, with five distinct generations. Broncos can be divided into two categories: early Broncos and full-size Broncos ....
offered a different blend of off- and on-road ability to existing utility 4x4s such as the Land Rover and the Jeep
Jeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
, proving capable of good on-road comfort and speed whilst retaining more than adequate off-road ability for most private users. The Jeep Wagoneer
Jeep Wagoneer
The Jeep Wagoneer was an early sport utility vehicle and the first luxury 4x4, produced under varying marques from 1963 to 1991. It was noteworthy for being in production for more than 28 years with only minor mechanical changes...
proved the concept further. The final element of what would become the Range Rover concept was provided by the President of Rover's USA operations who, frustrated by the lack of suitable vehicles from Britain to compete with the new crop of SUVs sent Rover a Land Rover Series II 88 fitted with a Buick V8
Rover V8 engine
The Rover V8 engine is a compact V8 internal combustion engine with aluminium cylinder heads and cylinder block, originally designed by General Motors and later re-designed and produced by Rover in the United Kingdom...
which offered far greater on-road performance and refinement than any Land Rover currently in production.
Rover acknowledged the emergence of this new market for recreational off-roaders and in 1967 began the '100-inch Station Wagon' programme to develop a radical car to compete, with Charles Spencer King
Charles Spencer King
Charles Spencer “Spen” King was a significant figure in the Rover Company and, after their takeover, in the British Leyland Motor Corporation.After leaving school in 1942, he was first apprenticed to Rolls-Royce...
in charge. King quickly defined the basic layout of the new vehicle, realising that only long-travel coil spring
Coil spring
A Coil spring, also known as a helical spring, is a mechanical device, which is typically used to store energy and subsequently release it, to absorb shock, or to maintain a force between contacting surfaces...
s could provide the required blend of luxury car comfort and Land Rover-like off-road ability (King is said to have been convinced by coil springs when driving a Rover P6
Rover P6
The first P6 used a 2.0 L engine designed specifically for the P6. Although it was announced towards the end of 1963, the car had been in "pilot production" since the beginning of the year, therefore deliveries were able to begin immediately. Original output was in the order of . At the...
across rough scrubland on part of the Solihull
Solihull
Solihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...
factory site that was being redeveloped, but Rover also bought a Ford Bronco
Ford Bronco
The Ford Bronco is a sport utility vehicle that was produced from 1966 to 1996, with five distinct generations. Broncos can be divided into two categories: early Broncos and full-size Broncos ....
which featured such a suspension system in the early stages of the 100-inch SW programme). Spencer King was also convinced that a permanent four wheel drive
Four Wheel Drive
The Four Wheel Drive Auto Company, more often known as Four Wheel Drive or just FWD, was founded in 1909 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, as the Badger Four-Wheel Drive Auto Company by Otto Zachow and William Besserdich.-History:...
transmission was needed to provide both adequate handling and to reliably absorb the power that would be required by the vehicle if it was to be competitive. This required a totally new transmission unit to be developed but Rover spread development costs between the 100-inch SW project and that working on what would become the Land Rover 101 Forward Control
Land Rover 101 Forward Control
thumb|right|300px|Side View.The 101 Forward Control was a vehicle produced by Land Rover for the British Army.-History:The vehicle was primarily produced to meet the Army's requirement for a gun tractor, and was designed to tow a field gun with a ton of ammunition and other equipment in the rear...
. The adoption by Rover of the Buick alloy V8 engine had provided the perfect powerplant for the new 4x4, being powerful, light and sturdy. Various modifications were made to the design to suit use in the Range Rover such as fitting different carburretors that maintained fuel supply at extreme angles and making provision for the engine to use a starting handle in emergencies.
The final design, launched in 1970 with bodywork styled largely by the engineering team rather than David Bache
David Bache
David Ernest Bache was a British car designer. For much of his career he worked with Rover.-Early life:Bache was born in Worcestershire, the son of Aston Villa and England footballer Joe Bache...
's styling division, was marketed as 'A Car For All Reasons'. In its original guise the Range Rover was more capable off-road than the Land Rover but was much more comfortable, offered a top speed in excess of 100 mph (44.7 m/s), a towing capacity of 3.5 tons, spacious accommodation for five people and groundbreaking features such as an four-speed, dual-range, permanent four-wheel-drive gearbox and hydraulic disc brake
Disc brake
The disc brake or disk brake is a device for slowing or stopping the rotation of a wheel while it is in motion.A brake disc is usually made of cast iron, but may in some cases be made of composites such as reinforced carbon–carbon or ceramic matrix composites. This is connected to the wheel and/or...
s on all wheels.
Body
Like other Land Rover vehicles, most of the Range Rover's bodywork skin is constructed from lightweight aluminiumAluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
, save for the two-section rear tailgate, and the bonnet
Hood (vehicle)
The hood or bonnet is the hinged cover over the engine of motor vehicles that allows access to the engine compartment for maintenance and repair. In British terminology, hood refers to a fabric cover over the passenger compartment of the car...
on all but the earliest models. Apart from minor cosmetic changes, the body design changed very little in its first decade. However, whilst utility Land Rovers had body panels rolled from a single sheet of aluminium, the Range Rover used aluminium panels hung on a steel 'safety frame' (a method pioneered with great success on the Rover P6
Rover P6
The first P6 used a 2.0 L engine designed specifically for the P6. Although it was announced towards the end of 1963, the car had been in "pilot production" since the beginning of the year, therefore deliveries were able to begin immediately. Original output was in the order of . At the...
saloon). This allowed the bodywork of the Range Rover to carry much greater structural strength via the steel frame whilst retaining the corrosion-resistant and easily repaired aluminium outer panels. Whilst the steel frame was designed by the engineering team, it was expected that Rover's stylist David Bache
David Bache
David Ernest Bache was a British car designer. For much of his career he worked with Rover.-Early life:Bache was born in Worcestershire, the son of Aston Villa and England footballer Joe Bache...
would provide a design for the outer panels for use on the production vehicles. For the prototypes the engineers designed their own functional body panels simply to protect the occupants and to allow the vehicles to be driven legally on the road. However the clean, square-cut and functional design of the prototype was deemed so good that Bache only altered the detailing, such as providing a different front grille and headlamp design.
One of the first significant changes came in 1981, with the introduction of a four-door body. Until then, Range Rovers only had two doors, making access to the rear seats rather awkward. These doors were also very large and heavy. Several companies offered conversions to four doors in the late 1970s. One by the company Monteverdi was approved for warranty purposes by Land Rover and was closely followed when the company produced its own development. The four-door version was received well by the public; its popularity being such that the two-door was discontinued in the United Kingdom in 1984, although the two-door continued to be produced to the end, mainly for the French market. The front end of the Range Rover was revamped in 1986. This brought a more pedestrian-friendly plastic grille with horizontal slats, and optional front valance with two fog lights. Mirrors were now mounted on the door pillar rather than the doors, the seat base was lowered and door handles were redesigned, making it more difficult for rear passengers but greatly improving the comfort for taller people in the front. Other changes include the windows, tailgate and bonnet but none of those affected the general design
Chassis and suspension
The Range Rover broke from the Land Rovers of its time by using coil springCoil spring
A Coil spring, also known as a helical spring, is a mechanical device, which is typically used to store energy and subsequently release it, to absorb shock, or to maintain a force between contacting surfaces...
s instead of the then-common leaf spring
Leaf spring
Originally called laminated or carriage spring, a leaf spring is a simple form of spring, commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles...
s. Because of its hefty weight, it also had disc brake
Disc brake
The disc brake or disk brake is a device for slowing or stopping the rotation of a wheel while it is in motion.A brake disc is usually made of cast iron, but may in some cases be made of composites such as reinforced carbon–carbon or ceramic matrix composites. This is connected to the wheel and/or...
s on all four wheels. Originally, it had no power steering
Power steering
Power steering helps drivers steer vehicles by augmenting steering effort of the steering wheel.Hydraulic or electric actuators add controlled energy to the steering mechanism, so the driver needs to provide only modest effort regardless of conditions. Power steering helps considerably when a...
, though this was added a few years after its introduction.
One problem with the Range Rover chassis was that it suffered considerably from body roll
Body roll
On wheeled or tracked vehicles, body roll is a reference to the load transfer of a vehicle towards the outside of a turn. When a vehicle is fitted with a suspension package, it works to keep the wheels or tracks in contact with the road, providing grip for the driver of vehicle to control its...
. Because of this, the suspension was lowered by 20 mm (0.78740157480315 in) in 1980, and later gained anti-roll bars
Sway bar
A sway bar or anti-roll bar or stabilizer bar is a part of an automobile suspension that helps reduce the roll of a vehicle that is induced by cornering or road irregularities. It connects opposite wheels together through short lever arms linked by a torsion spring...
. Air suspension was introduced in late 1992 for high-end 1993 models.
Most Range Rovers had a 100 inches (2,540 mm) wheelbase
Wheelbase
In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels.- Road :In automobiles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the center of the front wheel and the center of the rear wheel...
. However, 1992 saw the introduction of a more luxurious model, branded the LSE in the United Kingdom and County LWB (long wheelbase) in the United States providing expansive rear-passenger legroom absent from the 100-inch wheelbase models. These had a 108 inches (274 cm) wheelbase and 4.2 litre engines.
The 100-inch Range Rover chassis became the basis for the Land Rover Discovery
Land Rover Discovery
The Discovery was introduced into the United Kingdom in 1989. The company code-named the vehicle "Project Jay". The new model was based on the chassis and drivetrain of the more upmarket Range Rover, but with a lower price aimed at a larger market segment and intended to compete with Japanese...
, introduced in 1989.
Engines
Originally, the Range Rover was fitted with a detuned 135 hp version of the BuickBuick
Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...
-derived Rover V8 engine
Rover V8 engine
The Rover V8 engine is a compact V8 internal combustion engine with aluminium cylinder heads and cylinder block, originally designed by General Motors and later re-designed and produced by Rover in the United Kingdom...
. The 3528 cc engine was bored out to a displacement
Engine displacement
Engine displacement is the volume swept by all the pistons inside the cylinders of an internal combustion engine in a single movement from top dead centre to bottom dead centre . It is commonly specified in cubic centimeters , litres , or cubic inches...
of 3947 cc for the 1990 model year, and 4197 cc in 1992.
Petrol-fuelled Range Rovers were fitted with carburettors
Carburetor
A carburetor , carburettor, or carburetter is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It is sometimes shortened to carb in North America and the United Kingdom....
until 1986, when they were replaced by Lucas electronic fuel injection
Fuel injection
Fuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....
, improving both performance and fuel economy. The Lucas injection system continued to evolve over the next several years, culminating in the 1990 to 1995 Lucas 14CUX
Lucas 14CUX
The Lucas 14CUX is an automotive electronic fuel injection system developed by Lucas Industries and fitted to the Rover V8 engine in Land Rover vehicles between 1990 and 1995...
. Some export markets retained carburettors, with the original Zenith/Stromberg
Zenith Carburetters
Zenith Carburetters was a British company making carburettors. In 1955 they joined with their major pre-war rival Solex Carburettors and over time the Zenith brand name fell into disuse...
manufactured units being replaced by Skinners Union (SU)-manufactured items.
From 1979 onwards, Land Rover collaborated with Perkins on Project Iceberg, an effort to develop a diesel version of the Range Rover's 3.5 litre V8 engine.
Both naturally aspirated and turbocharged versions were built, but the all-alloy engine blocks failed under the much greater pressures involved in diesel operation. The project was, therefore, abandoned. The effort to strengthen the Rover V8 for diesel operation was not, however, completely wasted; the 4.2 litre petrol variant of the engine used crankshaft castings developed in the Iceberg project.
Because of the Iceberg failure, it was not until 1986 that Range Rovers gained diesel engines from the factory. The more efficient 2393 cc I4 VM diesel from Italy was made available as an option for the heavily taxed European market as the 'Turbo D' model, and were bored out to 2499 cc in 1989. The VM engines were highly advanced and refined diesel engines for their time but were received poorly by the UK press, who tended to compare their performance to the V8 models. To counter these criticisms Land Rover used a Turbo D Range Rover to set several speed and endurance records for diesel vehicles during 1987, including a continuous run over 24 hours at over 100 mph (44.7 m/s). The VM were replaced by Land Rover's own 200Tdi turbocharged
Turbocharger
A turbocharger, or turbo , from the Greek "τύρβη" is a centrifugal compressor powered by a turbine that is driven by an engine's exhaust gases. Its benefit lies with the compressor increasing the mass of air entering the engine , thereby resulting in greater performance...
diesel engine in 1992. and 300Tdi at the end of 1994.
Transmission
The Range Rover used permanent four-wheel driveFour-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4×4 is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously...
, rather than the switchable rear-wheel/four-wheel drive on Land Rover's Series
Land Rover (Series/Defender)
The Land Rover Defender is a British four wheel drive off-road utility vehicle developed from the original Land Rover Series launched in 1948.-Name and badge distinctions:...
vehicles, and had a lever for switching ratios on the transfer box
Transfer case
A transfer case is a part of a four-wheel-drive system found in four-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive vehicles. The transfer case is connected to the transmission and also to the front and rear axles by means of drive shafts...
for off-road use. Originally, the only gearbox available was a four-speed manual
Manual transmission
A manual transmission, also known as a manual gearbox or standard transmission is a type of transmission used in motor vehicle applications...
unit (with an optional Fairey
Fairey Aviation
The Fairey Aviation Company Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer of the first half of the 20th century based in Hayes in Greater London and Heaton Chapel and RAF Ringway in Greater Manchester...
overdrive
Overdrive (mechanics)
Overdrive is a term used to describe a mechanism that allows an automobile to cruise at sustained speed with reduced engine RPM, leading to better fuel economy, lower noise and lower wear...
after 1977). A three-speed Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
automatic gearbox became an option in 1982, which was upgraded to a 4-speed ZF box in 1985, coupled to an LT230 transfer box. The other major transmission upgrade in the Range Rover's lifetime was the switch from the LT95 combined four-speed manual gearbox and transfer box to the LT77 five-speed gearbox and separate LT230 transfer box in 1983. The LT230 was later used on both the Defender and Discovery
Land Rover Discovery
The Discovery was introduced into the United Kingdom in 1989. The company code-named the vehicle "Project Jay". The new model was based on the chassis and drivetrain of the more upmarket Range Rover, but with a lower price aimed at a larger market segment and intended to compete with Japanese...
models, but was replaced on the Range Rover by a Borg Warner chain-driven transfer box incorporating an automatic viscous coupling
Viscous coupling unit
A viscous coupling is a mechanical device which transfers torque and rotation by the medium of a viscous fluid. It is made of a number of circular plates with tabs or perforations, fitted very close to each other in a sealed drum. Alternate plates are connected to a driving shaft at one end of the...
limited slip differential - earlier transmissions had a manual diff lock (operated by a vacuum
Vacuum
In everyday usage, vacuum is a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure. The word comes from the Latin term for "empty". A perfect vacuum would be one with no particles in it at all, which is impossible to achieve in...
servo on the LT95 and mechanically on the LT230). The LT77 had two major design changes: first an upgrade to larger bearings for the layshaft and new ratios around 1988, then a newly designed synchro hub for third and fourth gear and double sunchros for first and second. This is also known as the suffix H gearbox or LT77s.
In 1995, both 300 tdi and V8 Range Rovers were fitted with an R380 gearbox which is identical to those in the same generation of the Discovery. The same gearbox was later fitted to the P38 model The r380 comes this full synchronization even for the reverse gear.
Off-road, and on
In June 1970, the Range Rover was introduced to the public, to much critical acclaim. It appeared that Rover had succeeded in their goal of a car equally capable both on and off road – arguably, better than any four-wheel drive vehicle of its era in both environments. Road performance (a top speed of 95 mph (153 km/h) and acceleration from a standstill to 60 mph (97 km/h) in less than 15 seconds) was said to be better than many family saloon cars of its era, and off-road performance was good, owing to its long suspension travel and high ground clearance. The 1995 Classic Range Rovers would reduce the 0-60 mph time to around 11 seconds, and increase the top speed to approximately 110 mph (177 km/h).Notable off-road feats were winning the four-wheel drive class in the first Paris-Dakar Rally
Dakar Rally
The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid type of off-road automobile race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation...
in 1979 and 1981, and being two of the first vehicles (along with a Land Rover Series IIA
Land Rover (Series/Defender)
The Land Rover Defender is a British four wheel drive off-road utility vehicle developed from the original Land Rover Series launched in 1948.-Name and badge distinctions:...
) to traverse both American continents north-to-south through the Darién Gap
Darién Gap
The Darién Gap is a large swath of undeveloped swampland and forest separating Panama's Darién Province in Central America from Colombia in South America. It measures just over long and about wide. Roadbuilding through this area is expensive, and the environmental toll is steep. Political...
from 1971 to 1972.
Popemobile (1982)
One of Pope John Paul IIPope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
's two popemobile
Popemobile
Popemobile is an informal name for the specially designed motor vehicles used by the pope during outdoor public appearances without having to employ the antiquated and often impractical sedia gestatoria. The Popemobile was designed to allow the pope to be more visible when greeting large crowds...
s, used on his visit to Scotland in 1982, was a Range Rover, the other was a 24-tonne truck built by British Leyland.
In Vogue (1983–1995)
The "In Vogue", a more luxurious special edition of the Range Rover, was produced in 1983. This went into full-fledged production as the Vogue.CSK (1990)
In 1990, a special 20th anniversary edition of the Range Rover was created—the CSK (CSK being the initials of the original designer, Charles Spencer KingCharles Spencer King
Charles Spencer “Spen” King was a significant figure in the Rover Company and, after their takeover, in the British Leyland Motor Corporation.After leaving school in 1942, he was first apprenticed to Rolls-Royce...
). Only 200 CSK models were ever made, all of which were two-door vehicles. For a while, King owned number 200, but this has since been sold on.