According to the legend, Maurice used to spend all the free time on his farm on Isle of Anglesey, North Wales. Being in dire need of hybrid between cross-country vehicle and a light truck, he bought an American Willys Jeep form army property clearance sale. When old jeep got worn-out, Wilks brothers designed their own, instead of buying a new one.
The first Land Rover was officially presented in 1948, at the Amsterdam Motor Show. The car was offered in single configuration: open body on 80 inch (2032 mm) short-wheelbase chassis.
New Range Rover was considered a vehicle for amateurs among the fans of the Land Rover. Many of them had doubts that new car was as reliable as the previous model. All doubts were dispelled two years later, when a number of Range Rover vehicles, managed by a group of British soldiers under the command of Major John Blashford-Snell, made a rally from Anchorage, Alaska to the Argentine city of Ushuaia. The British Trans-Americas Expedition of 1972 became the first vehicle-based expedition to traverse the Americas from north-to-south, including traversing the roadless Darién Gap.