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Go on. Admit it. There is something about a lights behind the grill Series 1 80”. I love them, you love them. There are fantastic. Oozing character from every rivet, the plucky 1.6 litre four pot tapping away under the bonnet. I was lucky enough, that the first Series 1 I ever drove was a 1949 example and what a joy it was. Little did I know at the time, but less than 24 hours later I would be behind the wheel of something which, in my humble opinion, was better. By a whole inch.

From the very start, Land Rover had military aspirations. Indeed, the Army tested one of the pre-production Land Rovers and ordered a batch of 80” examples pretty much straight away. As you may have read in earlier issues of LRLife, Land Rover had a rival in the form of the Austin Champ. And the military used these also. Under the bonnet of the Champ was the B40 2.8 litre straight four engine, made by Rolls Royce, which made the 1.6 litre Land Rover engine look a little asthmatic. The military then had an idea, in order to standardise engines, could this Rolls Royce engine be made to fit the Land Rover. Land Rover were up for the challenge and ordered 54 engines, of which 33 examples were made. This in itself, makes them rarer than even the most sort after pre-production Land Rovers. Well, when I say Land Rover, they did commission the work, but it was Hudson Motor’s that did the actual engineering.

As the Rolls Royce engine was larger, getting it to fit into the Land Rover did present a few challenges to say the least. The bonnet and the radiator cap wanted to occupy the same space, resulting in a round cut out in the bonnet, and the bonnet sitting a little bit proud. This is perhaps the easiest way to spot an 81” Land Rover. Oh yes, 81”, the wheelbase had to be increased by an inch as well. The chassis cross members had to be redesigned to fit the engine, and as the clutch was 10” verse the standard Land Rovers 9” a new bell housing had to be developed. With more power (80 hp compared to the 50 hp of the 1.6 litre engine) the gear ratios were also adjusted to suit. As it was a tight fit under the bonnet, the battery was re-located under the passenger seat. Other than that, the 81” Land Rover looks, well, like any other 1950 Land Rover. You could easily walk past one and not realise how rare it is. As mentioned, only 33 examples were made, and it is estimated that only 6 examples are still around making it uber rare and thus very desirable.

So, getting back to driving it. I had been planning to go to the Series 1 National rally in 2023, but I didn’t (nor do I still) own a Series 1. A chance conversation with a friend, led me to borrowing his very lovely 86” Station Wagon for the event. As I went to collect it from its storage location, I had the chance to look at some of the other vehicles at the location. Stopping by a very unassuming Series 1, I noticed the radiator cap through the bonnet. “Is this what I think it is” I enquired. Yes. Yes, it is, was the positive answer. Wow, I had seen a couple of examples before but never been up close to one. After several minutes of crawling all over it and taking many photographs, I was asked if I wanted to drive it. Well of course!

Above left and right – To the casual observer this looks like a standard 80″ Land Rover. note the bonnet is slightly raised.

The owner pulled it out of the garage, and I jumped in the passenger seat as we set off. A few minutes later he pulled over and I hopped behind the wheel. Literally 24 hours earlier I had never even driven a Series 1, yet here I was behind the wheel of one of the rarest Series 1 Land Rovers around! Setting off, carefully double de-clutching between gear changes you notice it is a lot livelier that the standard vehicle. You can be so lazy with the gear changes, the pull in 4^th gear thanks to the torque was fantastic. Shortly after, we arrive back at the storage facility and the owner tells me to take a left down a dirt track. I was now greenlaning an 81” Land Rover, and let’s be honest, for a Land Rover geek like me, it really doesn’t get any better!

Above – It really is a tight fit under the bonnet, thanks in part to the huge air filter!

Going back to why only 33 were made, the Military conducted trials on the Champ and both the 80” and 81” Land Rovers and in the end settled for the standard 80” Land Rover. Whether this was due to the price, the Rolls Royce engine cost as much as the entire Land Rover, or performance is not clear, but the decision was made and the 81” Land Rover was assigned to the history books, which is a shame, as it is a rather pleasant thing indeed.