The original inspiration was quite simple really – Maurice Wilks had a farm in Anglesey, which is located in Wales, and needed to replace his dying Willys Jeep. This was not a simple task in 1940’s post war England, surplus Jeeps were in short supply and no new models were being imported from the US to the UK. So Maurice, who was the chief designer at the Rover Car Company, set the auto manufacturer on the task of building an impenetrable British Utility Vehicle of to solve his personal need for a new farm vehicle.
The result was the Series I Land Rover, a vehicle that seems obvious today, but was a rather striking departure at the time. It is also a vehicle that has set the tone for every single Rover that has followed.
Because of the post war shortage of steel, the body was built with aluminum and the iconic pale green hue wasn’t a design statement, but rather a result of left over airplane cockpit paint!
Who knew that filling such a matter of fact personal need would result in the birth of perhaps the greatest go anywhere and virtually indestructible brand of all time.
Yet for all of its history, what stands out when you visit Land Rover today is the future. More specifically our collective automotive future. This morning we got a chance to spend some time with Land Rover’s current Design Director, Geoff Upex and it was just marvelous. To be honest it didn’t even feel like work, but rather a group of gearheads who were having a wide-ranging conversation about cars and trucks.
Having now had the opportunity to spend time with a host of automotive designers, ranging from recently graduates from The Pasadena Art Center College of Design to some of the more regular and famous automotive magazine subjects, I can’t help but be struck by how magnificently creative these folks are.
One of the more remarkable things about spending time with a car designer is realizing that while we as average consumers buy what is currently ‘cool’, these folks spend their days thinking about what’s going to be ‘cool’ five to seven years from now. They hold our collective design aesthetics in the palms of their hands and shape the very culture in which we exist. It’s a fantastic universe to engage and an amazing sight to see.
But what’s even more enjoyable is spending time chatting with one of them because as a general rule car designers are simply grown up adolescent kids at heart – men and women who live and breath cars and motorcycles. They get off to exactly the same things that the average car fan does – only they have the ability to take that passion and transform what we will eventually drive or ride.
It’s a fascinating place to visit – even momentarily – and when you meet someone like Geoff, it’s easy to find yourself entranced by the way he exudes his love for automobiles. When you talk to him it’s clear that every breath he takes soaks in just a little bit more of our culture and every pen stroke he makes brings the passion of car fans around the world to life. It’s a seductively engrossing kind of conversation because not only is he a truly enjoyable person to spend time with, but a man who is clearly always thinking about what’s next.
After we wrapped our shoot, Geoff was kind enough to allow us into Land Rover’s ubber secure design studio. Even though I wasn’t allowed to bring a camera in, I loved it. From the artist sketches to the giant power wall, the place blew my mind. In another life I wish I had been a car designer. It’s a remarkable profession – not only because of what it means to our culture – but also because it just looks like a heck of a lot of fun day in and day out. When you see someone making a full sized clay model of a car, the way they look over the brown hunk of clay, how they slowly move their hands and leisurely shape the lines, it’s tremendously inspiring. It’s the kind of hands on grown up purposeful playtime that I’m sure all gearheads wish they could achieve.
Day 5: The Land Rover Expedition
The original inspiration was quite simple really – Maurice Wilks had a farm in Anglesey, which is located in Wales, and needed to replace his dying Willys Jeep. This was not a simple task in 1940’s post war England, surplus Jeeps were in short supply and no new models were being imported from the US to the UK. So Maurice, who was the chief designer at the Rover Car Company, set the auto manufacturer on the task of building an impenetrable British Utility Vehicle of to solve his personal need for a new farm vehicle.
The result was the Series I Land Rover, a vehicle that seems obvious today, but was a rather striking departure at the time. It is also a vehicle that has set the tone for every single Rover that has followed.
Because of the post war shortage of steel, the body was built with aluminum and the iconic pale green hue wasn’t a design statement, but rather a result of left over airplane cockpit paint!
Who knew that filling such a matter of fact personal need would result in the birth of perhaps the greatest go anywhere and virtually indestructible brand of all time.
Yet for all of its history, what stands out when you visit Land Rover today is the future. More specifically our collective automotive future. This morning we got a chance to spend some time with Land Rover’s current Design Director, Geoff Upex and it was just marvelous. To be honest it didn’t even feel like work, but rather a group of gearheads who were having a wide-ranging conversation about cars and trucks.
Having now had the opportunity to spend time with a host of automotive designers, ranging from recently graduates from The Pasadena Art Center College of Design to some of the more regular and famous automotive magazine subjects, I can’t help but be struck by how magnificently creative these folks are.
One of the more remarkable things about spending time with a car designer is realizing that while we as average consumers buy what is currently ‘cool’, these folks spend their days thinking about what’s going to be ‘cool’ five to seven years from now. They hold our collective design aesthetics in the palms of their hands and shape the very culture in which we exist. It’s a fantastic universe to engage and an amazing sight to see.
But what’s even more enjoyable is spending time chatting with one of them because as a general rule car designers are simply grown up adolescent kids at heart – men and women who live and breath cars and motorcycles. They get off to exactly the same things that the average car fan does – only they have the ability to take that passion and transform what we will eventually drive or ride.
It’s a fascinating place to visit – even momentarily – and when you meet someone like Geoff, it’s easy to find yourself entranced by the way he exudes his love for automobiles. When you talk to him it’s clear that every breath he takes soaks in just a little bit more of our culture and every pen stroke he makes brings the passion of car fans around the world to life. It’s a seductively engrossing kind of conversation because not only is he a truly enjoyable person to spend time with, but a man who is clearly always thinking about what’s next.
After we wrapped our shoot, Geoff was kind enough to allow us into Land Rover’s ubber secure design studio. Even though I wasn’t allowed to bring a camera in, I loved it. From the artist sketches to the giant power wall, the place blew my mind. In another life I wish I had been a car designer. It’s a remarkable profession – not only because of what it means to our culture – but also because it just looks like a heck of a lot of fun day in and day out. When you see someone making a full sized clay model of a car, the way they look over the brown hunk of clay, how they slowly move their hands and leisurely shape the lines, it’s tremendously inspiring. It’s the kind of hands on grown up purposeful playtime that I’m sure all gearheads wish they could achieve.
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