A Defender 90 Land Rover, this machine was developed after World War 2, when a Rover engineer named Maurice Wilks owned a second hand Wyllis Jeep which he used around his farm. But the problem was that spare parts were difficult to obtain, so he and his brother Spencer decided to make their own version of the Jeep in Britain. The first prototype Land Rovers had a tractor like central steering wheel. Because a conventional chassis would have required expensive tooling, another engineer named Olaf Poppe devised a jig on which four strips of flat steel could be welded into a box-section chassis. (I followed that design on my model) The first Land Rover, with a 2m/80in wheelbase was shown to the public at the 1948 Amsterdam Motor Show. Orders began to flow in espesially after they were displayed in agricultural shows in Britain. To make the Rover more capable it was re-designed in 1954: the wheelbase was increased by 15cm/6in and the rear overhang by 7.5cm/3in, as this allowed the rear load space to be increased. A long wheelbase variant at 2.7m/107in was also made available as a pickup and these models had the 1997cc/121.8cu in engine which had been made available in the later 2m/80in models. Changes were again made in 1956 when both models were extended by 5cm/2in. The diesel engine was introduced in 1957 and by 1958 Land Rover had produced more than 200,000 Rovers. While Land Rover products are still made and widely exported, the emphasis of the range is now on sport-utility-vehicles, with the exception of the Defender 90 and 110 models which are refined versions of the original Land Rover.