‘48 motor show L-R to be restored
A Land Rover used as a launch vehicle at the 1948 Amsterdam Motor Show, which has been missing for 63 years, is being restored by Jaguar Land Rover Classic.
The demonstration vehicle is one of just 48 pre-production Land Rovers built and its restoration will form part of the company’s 70th anniversary celebrations.
The whereabouts of the car had been unknown for years, until it was spotted in a Birmingham garden in 2016.
Originally in LHD, it was converted to RHD not long after its appearance in
Amsterdam and was finally registered in 1955, after which it went through several owners in the West Midlands. The car was then taken to Wales in 1968, where it was used as a static power source until its engine seized, after which it returned to Birmingham in 1988 for a restoration that never happened.
Much of the car’s patina will be retained, as will the pre-production model’s thick aluminium body panels, galvanised chassis and removable rear tub – all of which were deleted for mass production.
JLR Classic director, Tim Hannig, says: ‘ There is something charming about the fact that exactly 70 years ago this vehicle would have been undergoing its final adjustments before being prepared for the 1948 Amsterdam Motor Show launch – where the world first saw the shape that’s now immediately recognised as a Land Rover.’ Charlie Calderwood
landrover.co.uk