The Land Rover Series I was first introduced in 1948 at the Amsterdam Motor Show by The Rover Company as a truck built for farm and light industrial use. But here’s a fun fact: The Series I was actually not this model’s name at launch, but rather “the Land Rover.” Series I (or Series One)  has since become the standard for referring to this Land Rover. It’s part of what are known as “Series Land Rovers,” which consist of Series I, Series II, Series IIA, and Series III.

Here’s some wonderful prose about the Series I we found on Silodrome in their writeup on the history of the Series I:

The Land Rover Series I was never expected to be a sales success. When it was first introduced it was not expected to be in production for more than three years and had you told Rover executives and planners that it would wildly outsell their line of prestigious luxury cars for decades into the future they would no doubt have laughed you to derision – until it happened. The Series I Land Rover became an icon of Britishness and it made its way throughout the British Commonwealth being found on safari in Africa, as the backbone car of Australia’s Snowy Mountains Scheme, and throughout all the Land Rover models one of the longest lived automobile designs ever created. Even today Land Rover believes that 70% of all the Land Rovers made are still being used somewhere.

Well said.