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Land Rover LWB Series 2 |
The Land Rover Series II was produced from 1958 to 1961. It came in 88 inch and 109 inch wheelbases (normally referred to as the 'SWB' and 'LWB'). This was the first Land Rover to receive the attention of Rover's styling department. Chief Stylist David Bache produced the familiar 'barrel side' waistline, with a 5 inch greater width to cover the vehicle's wider track, as well as the improved design of the truck cab variant, introducing the curved side windows and rounded roof used right through to the end of Defender production in 2012, although the Vanguards/Corgi models of the Series II ignore this update and stick with a version of the Series 1 cab with a squared-off back, presumably to fit with the various load-bed covers & tilts. The Series II was the first vehicle to use the famous 2.25-litre petrol engine. This larger petrol engine produced 72 hp and was closely related to the 2.0-litre diesel unit. It became the standard Land Rover engine until the mid-1980s when diesel engines became more popular. There was some degree of overlap between Series I and II production. Early series-II 88-inch vehicles were fitted with the old 2-litre petrol engine to use up existing stock from production of the series I. The 107-inch Station Wagon continued until late 1959 due to continued demand from export markets and to allow the production of series-II components to reach full level. The Series IIA replaced the Series II in 1961, they are almost indistinguishable from the outside, the changes were almost entirely mechanical. One way to tell them apart is the fill-in plate between the radiator panel and the front bumper. On the Series II it is flat, on the Series IIA it is curved. On all the Corgi & Vanguards Land Rovers it is flat, making them Series II. This Vanguards model's casting is derived from the Corgi Toys Land Rover released in 1962. The Corgi Toys Land Rover had a number of versions, notably the Breakdown Truck, which had a transverse rod crossing the loadbed, just behind the cab. On the breakdown truck this was for the winch. The casting was provided with blanks to show where the holes were to be drilled for this rod. It is interesting to see that the Vanguards model retains the blanks feature although none of them uses it. |
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Last Edit: 12/06/2024 | Page Added 04/12/2022 |