For fans and enthusiasts of a car brand, accompanying literature is part of the deal. For Land Rover there’s a large selection of books, on individual models, fields of use or the Land Rover company itself. One of the best books on this subject is “The Land Rover File” by Eric Dymock.
For Land Rover, it all began at the Amsterdam Motor Show in 1948. There the carmaker Rover presented its model, the “Land-Rover”. Originally intended as a short-term stopgap until Rover was producing export-capable models again, the small and adaptable all-wheel-drive vehicle and its successors managed a good 68 years of production.
The book edition for Land Rover’s 65th anniversary
For the 65th anniversary in 2013, the British motoring journalist Eric Dymock brought out a new edition of the book, first published in 2006, about the Land Rover company and all its models. Unlike many other books, it doesn’t start only in 1948, but also describes the important years before.
After the historical outline from 1936 to 2012 follows a chronological description of the individual model ranges. Besides the vehicles themselves, the author goes into the important military sector, the foreign and licence productions, expeditions and motorsport.
Dymock examines the events of each year, the good as well as the bad. For example the late 1970s, when the creeping decline of the British car industry turned into a disaster, or the very good years from 2010 to 2012, in which sales rose continuously and a great many new jobs were created. In addition, Dymock repeatedly shows pictures of prototypes, such as the Road Rover or the SD5, which was once meant to succeed the Land Rover Series III.
Verdict
Anyone who’s passionate about the Land Rover brand and the legend should treat themselves to this book. It’s suited to reading through or looking things up, and readers will find a lot of background information, pictures and a good description of the whole model range up to and including 2012. The author also mentions details that are rather little-known, for example that the 300Tdi engine was built at MWM International in Brazil.
What we particularly liked about “The Land Rover File” is that, unlike many other books, it also examines the connections between the individual companies involved.
The book is written in English and has 416 pages.
Where to get it: The Land Rover File by Dymock, Eric 65th (sixty-fifth) Anniversary Edition (2013)