Land Rover very quickly developed a lockable centre box armrest as a bolt-in alternative.We revisit the origins and history of the original Discovery.Indeed, just as countless vessels had sailed from Plymouth to discover new lands, so Land Rover was on its own voyage of discovery and similarly heading into rather uncharted waters, too.With some clever lateral thinking by the teams at Solihull, the essence of the Range Rovers structure was used to good effect and a new vehicle line was created which has since become the backbone of the Land Rover line-up and a sub-brand in its own right.
Industry watchers have even suggested that without the Discovery its doubtful whether Land Rover would have survived as a brand in the long term. Very quickly the team settled on the glaringly obvious idea of a new model to sit between Land Rover and Range Rover but time was tight: vehicles like the Jeep Cherokee were already popular in the USA while the Shogun was making inroads into the European market and it would have taken only a change in car buying fashion to leave Land Rover high and dry. Indeed, Land Rover executives were well aware that GM was already developing a potential European rival although as luck would have it, the Frontera which eventually resulted would be a laughably weak competitor to the Discovery. In the mid 80s diesel was just beginning its rise and it was already an important factor in European and Asian markets. This was to be an important feature differentiating the car from the Range Rover which had never been offered in a satisfactory diesel form and so inside Land Rover, efforts were concentrated on developing a decent diesel option rather than creating a different body style. Intriguingly, although the seven-seat capacity has since become one of the Discoverys prime selling points, a measure of the importance of the diesel question comes with the fact that budget constraints very nearly prevented the neat folding mechanism for the third-row seats. Automotive designers acknowledge that the windscreen is one of the hardest parts of a design to camouflage in this manner and the stylists had their work cut out to successfully integrate a structure designed back in the late 1960s for the original Range Rover into a design for the 90s. The resulting bumper was also then chunky enough to be used as a step for passengers entering the rear seats. This was solved in the Land Rover Station Wagon by using the familiar raised roof and a modern version of this was added to the Discovery. The addition of the Alpine windows and stepped roofline turned it into a feature which would become a signature of the Discovery which continues today. Intriguingly, photos of the models from this era dont show the Range Rover doors, which were a requirement added later. Photos from the era show the overall styling theme was little changed from this early model, with mainly only detail changes made before the design was frozen in February 1987. Turn Of Airbag Light On Range Rover P38 Manual Choke OnThe original Range Rovers cabin did have an appealingly chunky style but was decidedly utilitarian the original designers famously werent even told of the need to accommodate a manual choke on the original car, while the radio was always an afterthought, initially tucked away behind the drivers knee on early cars. The choice of automotive styling consultancy IAD was no surprise, but in an effort to inject a bold new style, Land Rover also invited Conran to submit a proposal. Turn Of Airbag Light On Range Rover P38 Plus The ConranWith the IAD proposal discounted early on, the choice came down to a pair of in-house proposals plus the Conran proposal. Designed along tubular themes, this was felt to be the most interesting and so was selected for production, although Land Rover insiders of the time admit that it needed considerable refinement. Conran was famous for its architectural and interior design but had limited familiarity with the world of automotive styling and technology. Parts of the design couldnt be translated to tooling requirements and needed modifying for production but the overall result was a modern and airy place to be, especially with the twin glass sunroofs. It was practical, too Conran had perhaps unwittingly included the dashboard shelf which was a feature of Rovers from the era, while storage nets were included in the roof and rear tailgate. The rigid edges of the bag made it uncomfortable as an armrest while walking around with it over your shoulder just made you look as if you were carrying car parts around.
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