With the Defender in its final year of production, Tata Motors’ Land Rover has built a replica of the production line used to manufacture the first models in 1948.
The ‘Defender Celebration Line’ is part of a new plant tour and showcases replica models in various stages of production, each one built using identical parts and in the same way as the original Series I.
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The display gives an insight into life on a car production line in the late 1940ss using original tools and a draftsmen’s drawing board where visitors – who pay GBP45 (US$68) a head – are also asked to wear authentic overalls known as ‘cow gowns’. The attraction includes an area dedicated to telling the story of the creation of the original Land Rover by founder Maurice Wilks using previously unseen video footage provided by his family.
The attraction is inside one of the original production buildings at the Solihull factory.
Land Rover said: “It has been a huge task to recreate a production line from almost 70 years ago, from sourcing original parts for the Series I models, to authentically re-creating the working environment and uniform of employees who were here. The team involved has been meticulous in their research, planning and creation.”
Help came from the curator of the famous Dunsfold Collection of historic Land Rovers, Phil Bashall, to create the vehicles for the production line.
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By GlobalDataHe said: “It’s been a struggle at times, but a real labour of love to source all of the original parts needed for vehicles that stopped production so many years ago.”
Phil had a large number of the ‘nuts and bolts’ he needed tucked away in his own Land Rover parts – he has amassed over 8,000 original items – but it was still a long and painstaking search to find all the brakes, clutches, gaskets and pedals required for the exhibit. He enlisted the help of skilled craftsmen and the Land Rover Series I Club to build a replica chassis along with some of the aluminium bodywork for the vehicles.
Once Phil had collected all of the parts over a period of months, it took him and his mechanic five weeks to build the five models. He in turned had help from Roger Crathorne, known as ‘Mr Land Rover’, who was born in Solihull and joined the automaker as an apprentice in 1963. He retired last year.
The Defender factory tour lasts about three hours and includes the body shop and final assembly.
