Steel rationing.  That is what we owe the existence of Land Rover to.  Post-war steel rationing.

In 1945 World War II was over and the British were rebuilding.  With huge overseas debts to repay, the British government took on the slogan "Export or Die."  Steel stocks were rationed, and those car makers who could guarantee a high percentage of exports were the ones who would get the limited sheet steel supplies.

Rover Car Company early Viking marqueRover Car Company was a successful British car maker, with an excellent reputation since at least the mid 1930's. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, their track record for exports was not good - they were successful at selling cars locally but had no experience with exporting. This meant they would not be able to get enough sheet steel to keep their factory at Solihull going if they simply proceeded with producing the same Rover cars they had in the past.  They needed something new - a stop-gap - either a vehicle for which they could be sure of being able to reliably and consistently export, or else one that did not use much sheet steel, or really both. What to do?

Video tour of the 2004 Land Rover Freelander.  Nice, long, but the videographer moves about and zooms a lot, so ya might get a bit dizzy...

A pretty basic review of the Land Rover LR2 from Car and Driver magazine.

Top Gear gives a review and/or feature overview of the 2009 Land Rover LR2 HSE.

Just a "look at me" 2010 Range Rover Sport video advertisement from Land Rover.

Land Rover Range Rover commercial narrated by Charles Shaughnessy. The soundtrack in the background is "Do You Realize" by The Flaming Lips.

I like it.  Land Rover seems to consistently come up with some pretty good commercials.  Better than a lot of the ones in this years' Super Bowl for sure.

This is a rarely seen ten minute promotional film that was sent to customers of Land Rover in 1999 for the lanuch of the Discovery 2. It also includes exclusive footage of the "New Discovery Trek" -- an 18,900 mile round-the-world test drive.