Yesteryear Collection

With more than 1.5 million Land Rovers sold in almost every country in the world, the Land Rover is undoubtely one of the most familiar and popular of the light-duty 4X4 vehicles. Their use has been wide and varied, as land Rovers have been enlisted into the service of the police, fire departments, and the military, as well as everyday general use. Indeed, the Land Rover design has been adapted to so many different uses and built to so many different specifications, that the people who make Land Rovers used to boast that they could build them for weeks on end without ever building the same one twice.

Before World War II, the Rover Company used to make quality motor cars for the professional classes. The Land Rover was introduced shortly after the war when the company sensed that the automobiles they had produced now seemed stodgy and conservative. Rover's engineering chief, Maurice Wilks, had noticed the success Jeep had enjoyed by making a civilian model out of its military Jeep. There was obviously a need and desire for a reliable civilian 4X4. so Wilks directed his engineers to build one, using existing Rover parts or ones that could be easily manufactured. The prototype of the Land Rover appeared in 1947 and the first public showing was at the Amsterdam Motor Show in 1948. By July of that year, Land Rovers were coming out of the Rover factory in Solihull, England. The Land Rover was an immediate success, particularly in the export market and soon surpassed Rover's other lines.

The 1948 Land Rover had a 1595 cc four-cylinder engine that provided 50 horsepower @ 4,000 rpm. It had permanent four-wheel drive (selective four-wheel drive was offered later as well as an enlarged 1997 cc engine). The 1948 Land Rover had the same 80-inch wheelbase as the Jeep that inspired it, and the '48 Rover came with or without a canvas tilt. For 1948, the Land Rover was offered in three models, a Wagon and a Mobile Welding Unit along with the traditional design. Now, the legendary Land Rover Series 1 original is recreated in an authentic die-cast replica. Precision-engineered in 1:43 scale with meticulous attention to historic detail, your 1948 Land Rover Series 1 is produced by - and available only from - Matchbox Collectibles.