The SD5: Land Rover that wasn't
Plans were afoot to replace the Land Rover in the early 1970s, but somehow they didn't get off the ground...
Here is SD5 - from the excellent book, Land Rover Scrapbook, by Mike Gould.
It does make us wonder what SD3 and SD4 were, though
New age Landie
OR all those who thought that the only Specialist Division prototypes produced were the SD1 and SD2, here's something of a treat for you. During the early 1970s, BL management investigated the possibility of replacing its long-lived Land Rover, and tasked the Specialist Division to come up with a low-cost, easy to produce alternative, which would carry on the name into the 1980s and beyond.
The photograph of the buck (below) clearly demonstrates that the new car, codenamed SD5, ticked all of those boxes and could have been very effective with V8 power under the bonnet (as is the case in the pictures). However, in the event, development came along at just the wrong time in BL history and not only was funding a no-go in the post-Ryder Report era but Solihull still had a waiting list for the Land Rover and Range Rover. Did the market really need an updated car?
The SD5 project was therefore cancelled and the company's next new model launch would have to wait until 1979 with the arrival of the V8 powered Land Rover.
V8 engine and short wheelbase would have been a winning combination...
Styling sketch clearly shows that the Solihull stylists were looking to continue where the Land-Rover left off...
Hose clean interior was a must...
Pictures: Land Rover Scrapbook, by Mike Gould
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