1948 Land-Rover 80'' Series I [L.31] in Royal Destiny, Short Movie, 1953

Class: Cars, Off-road / SUV — Model origin:

00:08:20 Minor action vehicle or used in only a short scene 

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Author	Message
dsl ◊ 2017-02-25 14:26	Online comments about HAC 380: "King George VI in a Land Rover during a visit to Wrest Park where he visited the National Institute of Agricultural Engineering on 16 November 1948 ... The Land Rover was a pre-production number L (for left drive) 31. The registration number was HAC 380." "HAC 380 is actually a pre-production 80" left hand drive, so is one of the first forty eight made. You can tell by looking at the tailgate hinge and locking brackets. Completely different to production vehicles. ..... HAC 379 is a RHD pre-pro R.32 now owned by the Houbens in Holland. ...... HAC 380 is pre-pro L.31. It and R.32 were used extensively by the National Institute of Agricultural Engineering for testing in 1948. Not much is known about L.31 except that she was dismantled after testing and believed to have been reassembled. The original engine of L.31 did turn up though about ten years ago". this was a 2009 comment, so engine turned up about 1999]. 2013 list of the 48 pre-production Land Rovers made March-August 1948. (R.07 has since surfaced as a barn find in 2016, plate unknown) "The preproduction Land Rovers are basically a small batch of vehicles made (48 in total numbered R or L 01 to 48) for testing and evaluation by Rover and others before production started in June 1948." - http://www.4wdonline.com/LandRover/Series/Prepro/Prepro.html and several other sites. -- Last edit: 2026-06-07 22:36:14
dsl ◊ 2017-02-25 14:26	Another at 14-04 - probably early 1953 inspection parade (so she's queen but not yet coronated) Are these royal inspection Landies sufficiently well recorded to tie this one down??
dsl ◊ 2026-06-07 23:01	^ Seems most likely this was the 1952 80" Landie originally developed as a Royal Review proposal by Hooper; the first attempt was a weird thing with a sort of turret on the rear, rear half spats, extended slab lower bodywork. and the windscreen removed which all looked a cumbersome mess. It was then stripped back to something more normal by Rover and fitted with the usual windscreen and side windows, with a handrail behind the cab. It was used as an auxiliary review vehicle for some time until the first proper State Review Landie appeared in mid-53, based on a pre-production 86" and fitted with the familiar custom rear platform and painted in Royal Claret. The original 80" then vanished from the record - fate unknown and no info on chassis number etc.