The Utility Land Rover

The Making of a Design Icon: The Utility Land Rover P. R. Hazell Doctor of Philosophy, July 2017 (Final Version) The Making of a Design Icon: The Utility Land Rover P. R. Hazell A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the University’s requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2017 University of Worcester Etching of a Series 1 utility Land Rover intended for use in early press advertising (Rover Company 1948) Abstract The Making of a Design Icon: The Utility Land Rover The utility Land Rover when first launched in 1948 was designed to meet the assumed needs of agriculture and to address the British government’s export imperative imposed after World War II. These very particular circumstances nevertheless yielded long-term success for the vehicle, leading to 67 years of continuous production. How then did a vehicle intended to overcome the commercial constraints of the post-war British motor industry, go from humble workhorse to long-lived mythologised automotive icon? This research examines the factors leading to its prolonged production, the petrification of the design, as well as the changing value complexes associated with the utility Land Rover over time. It also deconstructs by case study the notion of iconisation with regard to a technical artefact and the significance of the vehicle’s reputation to the later hugely successful Land Rover corporate brand. A hybrid methodological model developed as part of the research and drawing from actor network theory (ANT), elements of the social construction of technology (SCOT) as well as ‘informational capital’ is employed. This is then utilised to identify the factors that led to the utility Land Rover’s longevity and its later frequent characterisation as an automotive icon. Furthermore, this innovative hybrid model seeks to make an original contribution to design history by combining existing methodologies in a manner that facilitates the intergraded analysis of diverse factors affecting the development and nature of technical artefacts, particularly those that are long-lived. This thesis thereby demonstrates that the history of the utility Land Rover is one of persistence: operationally, culturally and temporally. Although anachronistic in many ways by the time production ended, the vehicle’s ability to remain relevant for seven decades was largely rooted in its versatility, both in terms of application but also increasingly through interpretive flexibility and its significance to relevant social groups. Findings also reveal that the process of iconisation requires either physical or cultural longevity of the artefact and is largely a democratised process reached by consensus, although the term ‘iconic’ has been progressively devalued through habituated use in the media. Additionally the research undertaken highlights and begins to address the limited design history research regarding automotive design particularly with regard to utility, the potential for engaging with enthusiasts and examining subjectivity in design historical scholarship, as well as the largely neglected topic of the design history of the car in developing countries. Abstract for Ph.D. thesis The Making of a Design Icon: The Utility Land Rover, Paul Hazell, July 2017 Acknowledgments I would like to thank the following for their support and contributions to this research: Firstly my supervisory team, Dr John Peters (my Director of Study) whose pragmatic and sage advice on navigating though the challenges of a PhD have been of great help and reassurance. Professor Kjetil Fallan who has provided tireless support, advice and encouragement as well as a seemingly endless knowledge on all issues relating to design history – your help has been boundless. Dr James Taylor whose knowledge, links with those working in the motor industry, incredible archive of all things Rover combined with his support and friendly encouragement has been highly valued. I would also like to thank those who allowed me to interview them, notably engineer Arthur Goddard (who at the age of 26 became responsible for the design and development of the utility Land Rover during its development in 1947), Roger Crathorne, engineer at Land Rover for more than half a century and ultimately the Director of Technical PR until his recent retirement and Peter Crowley- Palmer, Principal Designer at JLR. I would also like to thank all the enthusiasts, users of the utility Land Rover and those involved with the vehicle in other regards who have also allowed me to question them but who are sadly too numerous to mention individually. Finally I would like to thank my partner Diana Hawkins for her unerring encouragement and considerable tolerance of living with an individual undertaking a part-time PhD. Your belief in the project (and in me) has been an enormous source of support. Thank you all. Paul Hazell, April 2017 Contents Introduction An enduring expedient: Research methodology and literature review 1 Chapter 1 Properties moulded by circumstance: The emergence, design and evolution of the utility Land Rover from 1947 to 1958 38 Chapter 2 Properties moulded by demand and propriety: The evolution of the utility Land Rover from 1958 72 Chapter 3 Changing functions: The versatility and diverse application of the utility Land Rover 117 Chapter 4 Value complexes: The utility Land Rover and its transfigurative significance 160 Chapter 5 Defining an Icon: Application of the term ‘iconic’ to the utility Land Rover 200 Conclusion Requiem for a versatile vehicle 226 Bibliography 242 Appendices i) Utility Land Rover production timeline 251 ii) Owners of the Land Rover brand since 1948 253 iii) Graph showing utility Land Rover production volumes from 1948 to 2016 254 iv) The origins and development of the Rover Motor Company 255 v) Rover and the Second World War 260 vi) Conference papers emanating from the research carried out for the Ph.D. 262 vii) List of principle interviews 268 Introduction An Enduring Expedient: Research Methodology and Literature Review ‘There is something about the Land-Rover which has stirred the imagination and which has, by the confirmation of its unique qualities and special characteristics, created for itself a personality amongst Automobiles.’ 1 H.B. Light, 1965 At just after 9:30am on Friday the 29th of January 2016 the final example of the Land Rover Defender rolled off the assembly line at the Lode Lane factory site, Solihull, England. This marked the end of more than 67 years of continuous production for a vehicle that had initially been developed in seven months, was born out of post-war expediency, yet had seemingly defied the transfigurative powers of automotive fashion. This is in sharp contrast to current transient car designs, which despite taking an average of three years to develop, are being redesigned at an ever increasing pace with new and significantly reengineered models replacing old in as little as five years. The utility Land Rover is thus an interloper from another era: Initially designed as a functional vehicle both for the UK market and to meet an export imperative, it managed to survive as an archetype into the increasingly saturated and mercurial contemporary car market.2 Although anachronistic in many ways by the time production ended the ubiquity and apparent petrification of the utility Land Rover has often been celebrated as a virtue with the vehicle frequently characterised as being ‘fit for purpose’, ‘legendary’ and the continuation of a fundamentally sound functional ‘design classic’. The reasons for the vehicle’s survival are however still more pragmatic than its utilitarian origins would suggest, being determined by circumstances and expediency as a matter of necessity as much as strategic thinking or as an automotive manifestation of functional perfection. Introduction 1 An Enduring Expedient: Research Methodology and Literature Review The utility Land Rover evolved slowly through several versions since its first introduction in 1948 and despite its largely unchanging silhouette has nevertheless gone through many incarnations, from agricultural vehicle, to military transport, to expedition workhorse, to fire engine, to ambulance and many other applications until arguably finally to ‘SUV’ (Sports Utility Vehicle) and cult classic. Both the reach and enduring nature of the vehicle were highlighted by Tony Gilroy, the managing Director of the Land Rover Group in the 1980s, when he stated ‘70% of all Land Rovers ever built are still in use [somewhere in the world]’ which followed a similar and widely repeated claim of pervasiveness made by Rover (the then parent company) in the early 1970s that ‘the Land Rover was the first car seen by 60% of the developing world’s population’.3 This characterisation of pervasiveness, along with its diverse application, informed the value complexes associated with the vehicle which, when combined with its longevity, have led to the widespread canonisation of the utility Land Rover as a design icon. This makes it particularly felicitous as a study of enduring automotive design with the utility Land Rover’s manufacture spanning a period of significantly changed expectations amongst car designers, commentators and consumers alike, sold to a global market over seven decades, but with the artefact itself remaining remarkably immutable over the same period. This research therefore undertakes a detailed study of the vehicle’s design and development, the factors and circumstances leading to the utility Land Rover’s persistence as an artefact and examines its

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