These improvements gave the Land Rover a more 'shapely' look.
LAND-ROVER SERIES 2/2A
THE SERIES 2 followed the Series 1 Land Rovers in 1958. It was only in production for 3 years, and was then replaced by the Series 2a in 1961. The Series 2/2a had the same 88 and 109 inch wheelbases as the last Series 1.
| Rover had recently created their Styling Department and they had improved the Land-Rover's looks from the old Series 1's. The most noticable features are the "barrel" sides below the windows, and the more rounded looking roof panel on the Truck-Cab models.
These improvements gave the Land Rover a more 'shapely' look. |
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| SERIES 2 | SERIES 2A |
The Series 2 was launched. They still had the same sort of body styles available as the Series 1's had, as well as the many custom-built conversions. The 109 inch long-wheelbase had got bigger brakes than the 109 inch Series 1, due to the higher road speeds it could reach.
The higher road speeds were curtesy of the new, more powerful petrol engine. It used the same OHV wet-liner design as the 2-litre diesel engine that was introduced a months before. The new petrol engine had a bigger capacity, at 2.25 litres and had 50% more power and 20% more torque than the old 2-litre.
The gearbox and chassis, suspension, etc, remained almost identical to the Series 1.
The new body styling was most noticable on the Station Wagons in long-wheelbase form. The rounded sides gave it a much more attactive appearance, compared to the Series 1 models that looked almost home-made!
The 109-inch Station Wagons still had the safari roof and 10 seats as standard, like the 107-inch models previously. They were introduced 6 months after the 88-inch Series 2 appeared.
The Series 2a was launched in September 1961, and they looked identical to the Series 2!
The main difference was the new 2.25-litre diesel engine. This offered 20% more power and 17% more torque then the old 2-lire diesel, as well as being quieter. Land-Rover added a small badge that read "Rover Diesel" to the grille of the new cars, to distinguish them from the old 2-litres.
Land-Rover introduced a 2.6-litre six-cylinder petrol engine as an option in the 109-inch models. This had 13% more power than the four-cylinder petrol engine, and was much more refined. It had a 7 bearing crankshaft and more durable roller rockers in the valve gear. The first few had the SU carburettor, and later ones had the Zenith carb.
Also, at this time, the "One Ton" Land-Rover was anounced. It was to meet the customer demand for a better payload capacity. They were based on the 109-inch, and had the new 2.6-litre six-cylinder engine. They had larger tyres, which was the only real visible difference, and it had stronger gearing and axles to allow for the extra payload.
The headlights were moved to the end of the wings, instead of being set into the grille. They were introduced to meet new lighting regulations in some of their export counties, which still counted for 80% of the sales. They weren't seen in Britain, though, until early 1969, when they were flush with the wing-fronts, instead of standing proud as they had on some earlier export examples - which were suitably nick-named "Bug-Eyes"!
| TOTAL PRODUCTION: | FROM 1958-61 (Series 2): 110 074 |
| FROM 1961-71 (Series 2a): 343 298 |