Few vehicles are as tied to an Australian story as the early Land Rover. Within a year of its launch in England, it was being shipped here to help build one of the biggest engineering projects in the country's history 2.

This refreshed history of Land Rover in Australia replaces the original version of this post, which mixed up several dates and leaned on claims we could not source. It follows the brand from an idea inspired by a wartime Jeep to the Snowy Mountains and the Australian Army. It ends with today's Defender.

A farmer's answer to the Jeep

The Land Rover was the idea of Maurice Wilks, an engineer at the Rover Company, and it drew on the wartime Jeep 1. Wilks used an army-surplus Jeep on his own farm on Anglesey, in North Wales, which is likely to have shaped the idea of a simple, go-anywhere workhorse 1.

The first Land Rover made its public debut at the Amsterdam Motor Show on 30 April 1948 2. It had a 1.6-litre petrol engine of around 50 bhp and an 80-inch wheelbase, which it kept until 1951 1. It was meant as a stopgap product for Rover after the war, but it quickly became the company's most important vehicle.

Land Rovers and the Snowy Mountains Scheme

Construction of the Snowy Mountains Scheme officially began on 17 October 1949 3. The scheme took 25 years and was officially completed in 1974 3. It involved sixteen major dams and about 225 km of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts 3. More than 100,000 people from over 30 countries worked on it, and about seventy per cent of the workers were migrants 3.

Land Rovers were part of it from the start. Imports for the scheme began in 1949, and more than 250 Land Rovers were brought in for it between 1949 and 1974 2. They surveyed tracks and ferried workers through the alpine country 2. One was converted to run on rails inside the tunnels, and four were turned into fire engines 2.

That work in the high country did more for Land Rover's reputation here than any advertisement. A vehicle that could cope with the Snowy's tracks and winters was one that farmers and government departments across Australia wanted.

Built here: the history of Land Rover in Australia

Demand grew so quickly that Land Rover set up assembly in Australia. In the 1950s the company established Australian factories that put together kits shipped from its plant at Solihull, in England 1. By the 1960s Land Rover held about 90 per cent of Australia's off-road vehicle market 1.

Australia and New Zealand were important markets for Land Rover through the 20th century 7. Later, completely knocked down kits were assembled at Moorebank, in western Sydney 5.

The Series years

The original model ran until 1958, and later became known as the Series I 1. Its successors set the shape most Australians picture when they think of an old Land Rover.

Series II and IIA

The Series II arrived in 1958, with 88-inch and 109-inch wheelbases, and it was the first Land Rover with the well-known 2.25-litre petrol engine 1. The Series IIA followed in 1961, and many owners regard it as the toughest of all the Series models 1.

Series III

The Series III ran from 1971 to 1985 and is the most common Series Land Rover, with about 440,000 built 1. From 1979 to 1985 Land Rover also built the Stage One V8, which used Range Rover parts including a detuned 3.5-litre Rover V8 1.

Four old Land Rover Series III station wagons parked in a row on grass beside a mountain river
Four Land Rover Series III station wagons, in cream, blue and dark green, parked side by side beside a mountain river. Image from the earlier cardomain.com.au site; original source not recorded.

Land Rover and the Australian Army

The Australian Army has used Land Rovers for decades. It adapted the Series 2 into a long range patrol vehicle and an anti-tank gun carrier, among other roles 7.

The best known Australian military Land Rover is the Perentie. It was a Land Rover 110 built for the Army in the 1980s and 1990s, with parts made and vehicles assembled at Moorebank in New South Wales 4. It entered service in 1987, replacing the Army's ageing Series 2A and Series 3 vehicles 4.

The Perentie had features of its own 4:

  • an Isuzu 3.9-litre four-cylinder diesel, in standard or turbocharged form 4;
  • 4x4 and 6x6 versions, the 6x6 with a wider cab and extra rear axle 4;
  • an original order for 2,500 4x4s and 400 6x6s between 1987 and 1990 4.
A boxy 1950s four-wheel drive climbing a muddy alpine track among snow gums (AI-generated image)
AI-generated image

Its name came from Project Perentie, the Army trial that Land Rover won, and from the perentie, the biggest goanna native to this continent 4. By February 2013 the Perenties were being disposed of, and the Army replaced them with Mercedes-Benz G-Wagens 4. Ex-Army Perenties now turn up in private hands, and they remain popular with touring enthusiasts.

The civilian market got a related version too. Jaguar Rover Australia developed an Isuzu diesel version of the 110 sold only in Australia 5.

Australian testing also mattered overseas. Successful trials of the later TD5 Defender by the Australian Defence Force are credited as one factor in the British Ministry of Defence's decision to buy TD5 Defender 110s 5.

From workhorse to luxury brand

Land Rover's range grew well beyond the original utility. The Range Rover arrived in 1970, aimed at buyers who wanted off-road ability with more comfort 7. In 1978 Land Rover became a separate company within British Leyland, rather than a product line of Rover 7. The Discovery followed in 1989 and the smaller Freelander in 1997 7.

The utility line moved on too. The coil-sprung One Ten arrived in 1983 and the Ninety in 1984, giving a more comfortable ride and better axle articulation than the leaf-sprung Series models 5. In 1990 they were renamed Defender 90, 110 and 130 5.

New owners

Ownership changed several times. BMW bought the Rover Group, including Land Rover, on 31 January 1994 7. In 2000 BMW sold Land Rover to Ford 7. Our history of BMW in Australia covers that short and expensive chapter from BMW's side, and our history of Ford Australia covers the company that took over. On 2 June 2008 Tata Motors of India completed its purchase of Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford 7. The two brands merged into a single company, Jaguar Land Rover, on 1 January 2013 7.

The end of the old Defender, and a new one

Production of the original Defender ended on 29 January 2016 5. By then just over two million Series and Defender models had been built, and the last one was number 2,016,933 5.

The name returned with an all-new Defender, unveiled on 10 September 2019 at the Frankfurt Motor Show 5. It is a very different vehicle. Instead of a separate chassis, it uses the D7x platform with an aluminium unibody body 6. It is built at Jaguar Land Rover's plant in Nitra, Slovakia, which opened on 25 October 2018 6.

The new Defender comes in three sizes 6:

  • the 90, a three-door 6;
  • the 110, a five-door, which reached customers first, in early 2020 6;
  • the 130, a five-door with a longer rear overhang and three rows of seats 6.

Engine choices in Australia have included diesels and a supercharged V8, and a plug-in hybrid has been offered in the 110 in some markets 6. The 110 was crash tested by ANCAP in 2020 6. Check the ANCAP website for the result that applies to the car you are considering.

Buying a Land Rover in Australia

An old Series Land Rover or Perentie is a classic with a strong club and parts scene, but it is a very different thing to drive from a modern four-wheel drive. Have any older vehicle inspected for chassis rust and leaks before you buy, and budget for ongoing work. For a newer Defender, Discovery or Range Rover, look up the exact model and year on the ANCAP website for independent crash test results 8.

Whatever you choose, service history matters. Our guide on why you should never skip a scheduled service explains why, and our 10 best cars for towing a caravan compares other capable four-wheel drives. When you are ready, browse cars for sale on Car Domain and read our buying safety tips first.

For the full background, see the record of the Snowy Mountains Scheme and the history of the Land Rover Perentie.

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, Land Rover series, accessed 2 November 2026
  2. GoAuto, Land Rover turns 60, accessed 2 November 2026
  3. Wikipedia, Snowy Mountains Scheme, accessed 2 November 2026
  4. Wikipedia, Land Rover Perentie, accessed 2 November 2026
  5. Wikipedia, Land Rover Defender, accessed 2 November 2026
  6. Wikipedia, Land Rover Defender (L663), accessed 2 November 2026
  7. Wikipedia, Land Rover, accessed 2 November 2026
  8. ANCAP, ANCAP Safety, accessed 2 November 2026