1973 Land Rover Series III

The Land Rover arrived in 1948 and was heavily influenced by the durability, capability, and versatility of the Willys Jeep during World War II. Civilians quickly discovered the Land Rover's potential for traveling on just about any landscape, and following the success of the first model, Land Rover created the Series II, which came about in 1958, ten years after the first. Finally, in 1971 the Series III was created.

The Land Rover Series III wore the same body and engine options as the preceding IIA, and only minimal cosmetic changes differentiated it from the IIA. The Series III was popular, in fact, it was the most popular of the 'Series', with 440,000 of the type built from 1971 through 1985. During the Series III production run, the 1,000,000th Land Rover rolled off the production line in 1976.

Late production IIA models, from 1968 onward, had their lights located on in the fenders and would remain in this position for the Series III. The traditional metal grille worn by the Series I, II, and IIA, was replaced with a plastic unit for the Series III model. The 2.25-liter engine had compression raised from 7:1 to 8:1, resulting in a slight increase in horsepower. The 2.25-liter unit had overhead valves and breathed through a single Zenith carburetor, delivering 73 horsepower at 4,200 RPM. While the Series IIB was offered with the 2.25-liter as standard (a 2.6-liter version was available only for export) the Series III was offered in a range of four engines, including diesel and petrol versions of the 2.25-liter inline 4, with 62 hp and 73 hp respectively, a 2.6-liter petrol with 86 hp, and a 3.5-liter V8 (petrol) delivering 91 horsepower.

The Series III was the first model to feature synchromesh on all four gears. There was a two-speed manual transfer gearbox with selectable four-wheel drive. Stopping power was courtesy of hydraulic drum brakes and the suspension was comprised of leaf springs. Long-wheel examples of the Series III received the Salisbury rear axle as standard. The standard-wheelbase measured 88-inches while the longer version measured 109-inches.

In keeping with early 1970s trends in automotive interior design, both in safety and use of more advanced materials, the simple metal dashboard of earlier models was redesigned to accept a new molded plastic dash. The previous centrally located position of the instrument cluster was moved to the driver's side.

The Land Rover Series III was replaced by the Land Rover Defender (Ninety & One Ten).

by Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2021