Land Rover V8 History

In 2005 an era ended, was it that Land Rover was stopping building an vehicle such as Defender, Discovery or Range Rover? No quite but it was the end of something very special in Land Rover History. They were going to stop production of the Rover V8 engine which had became a bit of a legend on its own.

It all started in the 60's when Land Rover realized that they needed a large petrol engine to compete in the American market. J Bruce McWilliams was the man that made it all happen. He found a 215 Buick v8 in the back of a friends workshop. General Motors had just stopped production of the engine and which gave Land Rover a chance to take over the license and produce it themselves. The basic design of this iconic engine is still being manufactured to this day by other car makers.

The first time the British public saw the Rover V8 was at the Earls court Motor Show in October 1967. It was in a Rover p5B, the B standing for, you guessed it Buick.

The V8s birth in a Land rover vehicle was in 1970 when it was launched in the Range Rover. The military vehicle, the 101 Forward Control also was transplanted with the V8 in 1972.

The V8 Land Rover, the now Defender only was powered by the v8 in 1980. By 1983 the V8 and Land Rover had built up a great reputation of reliability and drivibility. The v8 was only available in the 110 until 1985 when it was plugged into the 90 model.

V8s off road are a great engine, there is always power at your peril. Even in 2nd or 3rd gear you can touch the gas and you will be propelled forward. Instant throttle response makes it the perfect engine for off-roading in clubs and practical use. The number of Land rover models that are actually used for off roading these days in very however however.

In 1989 the three Land Rover Models powered by v8, the Defender, Discovery and Range Rover were fitted with a whole newly designed engine from BMW. This new engine was 4.4 liters in capacity and increased the reliable and power over the previous power plant.

So why in 2005 was the Rover v8 engine phased out? Emission tests had got stricter and stricter and it would simply cost too much for Land Rover to build and keep up the revisions to the engine. 30 years of the engine was a great feat and Land Rover are still very proud of their achievement with it. There are still off course many V8s going about and with so many enthusiasts and and keepers there will always be some kind of V8 power around, although it won't be available to buy straight off the production line.

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