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Is this the greatest car of all?
By Gordon Lomas
July 30, 2003
IN ARGUABLY one of the most controversial motoring decisions in recent times, the Land Rover has been named the greatest car of all time by BBC TV's Top Gear program.
Land Rover Defender
Born in 1948 and known as the Land Rover Defender since 1990, the car landed the gong after viewers cast telephone votes from a short-list of nine vehicles offered by the program's panel of experts.
It is claimed that from the 2 million sold over 55 years, two-thirds of Land Rovers are still on the roads today worldwide.
Experts from Top Gear said the Land Rover had all the elements necessary for the award, including function, design, durability, engineering supremacy and soul.
Lovers of Jeeps will probably be up in arms over the award.
The original Land Rover was copied from the original Willys Jeep after World War II.
The current crop of Land Rovers – Range Rover, Discovery, Freelander and Defender – can trace their roots back to the original Land Rover.
Land Rover managing director Matthew Taylor said the brand was a motoring icon that had been noted as a workhorse around the world.
And there is still more to come, with an additional model for the Land Rover range plus an all-new Discovery wagon due in 2004.
