Land Rover Series 1 (1948 – 1958): For the debut model, Rover grabbed a prewar 1.4-liter inline-four along with its transmission. The vehicle would offer four-wheel drive, so Rover had to create a new transfer case from scratch, incorporating a feature that could disconnect the front wheels when covering rough terrain was not needed or reconnect them on demand.

Series II (1958 – 1961): A decade after the premiere of the original model, the Series II debuted, representing a gentle evolution of the original that introduced a number of technical improvements. On the outside, the Land Rover lost a few of its sharp edges, gaining slightly less boxy lines, but the major changes were under the skin, including a wider track for better cornering and on-road stability.

Series III (1971 – 1985): The third generation of the Land Rover continued with a gradual evolution of the existing model, but the outward changes were once again on the subtle side. The headlights moved to the front wings on all models, and the grille evolved into a two overlapping rectangles in the form of a plus sign — this is the easiest way to tell the Series III apart from its earlier versions. (The grille was also plastic now, preventing it from being used to cook meat in the bush).

Defender (1983 – 2016): The Defender picked up where the Series III left off, initially dubbed as the Land Rover 90 and the Land Rover 110, representing the two main wheelbase variants. Two new wheelbase variants joined the lineup during the tenure of the Defender, including the 127, with a corresponding 127-inch wheelbase, but which ended up being badged as the 130. But the Defender name itself did not come about until 1990.