Land-Rover 86" Series-I

1953 late: The 1954 model year Land-Rover 80" had its wheel-base lengthened to 86"; a 107" long wheel-base model was also introduced.

The decision to upgrade the original Land Rover took place rather quickly after its introduction. In early 1950 the company had decided to start its upgrade and built 50 pre-production two litre prototypes, (80") vehicles that ran in a chassis number sequence 07100001 to 07100050, the second number in the chassis number, 7 standing for `Test Land Rover' and never officially released, where the standard Land Rover where identified by the number 6. The 2-litre engine was found to be satisfactory for production and introduced for the 1952 season.

During the 1952 season the plans for what was to become the new model Land Rover were given a good step forward with the production of 9 prototype 86" Land Rovers. Basically the new model was going to be a full improvement over the quickly slapped into production 80" Land Rover. The main difference was going to be an improved load space of 9" for the rear body and a complete redesign of the interior and doors to make the Land Rover much more user friendly as the Land Rover became the standard workhorse in many markets for more people than just the farmers.

The idea of the Land Rover being just a upgraded tractor had now moved on to the Land Rover being `The Jack of All Trades'. This called for a full redesign from the bulkhead backwards to improve interior comfort and load space. These 9 prototypes were numbered P86/1 to P86/9, the `P86' standing for Prototype 86". At a quick look these vehicles look very like a standard early 86", but many little differences exist. At the same time the plans for the first long wheelbase Land Rover had taken place and 3 prototype 107" wheel base models were made, P107/1 to P107/3. The success of these 12 prototypes obviously went very well as the pre-production model 86" was started soon after in 1953 with the sequence 47100001 onwards, the 7 in the sequence standing again, as with the 1950 pre-production Two litre vehicles for `Test Land Rover'. Very early versions of parts books for the up and coming 86" and 107" models list the sequence for the 1954 models as 46100001, and so on onwards, in line with the last 1953 80" models which were 36100001 and so on, onwards. However this wasn't to be the case and in reality the 86" pre production sequence, 47100001 series continued into production, only the earliest 471 `Home' vehicles being pre-production 86" Land Rovers.

2003

The standard 86" and 107" Land Rover was only in production for 2 years until it made way for the 88" and 109" models that introduced Rovers new 2-litre diesel engine. The 107" Station wagon stayed in production not being available with the diesel engine.

Chassis Numbers.

Pre-Production 86" (1952) P86/1 to P86/9

Pre-production 107" (1952-53) P107/1 to P107/3

Pre-production 107" Station Wagon (1954-55) 107/SW/1 and 2, LRSW 107-3 to 6?

1954 Models.

86"

Basic model Home models	47100001 to 47102681
Right hand drive export	47160001 to 47163434
Left hand drive export	47130001 to 47135125
Right hand drive export, (C.K.D)	47660001 to 47663096
Left hand drive export, (C.K.D)	47630001 to 47630564

107"

Basic model Home models	47200001 to 47200441
Right hand drive export	47260001 to 47261674
Left hand drive export	47230001 to 47231245
Right hand drive export, (C.K.D)	47760001 to 47760346
Left hand drive export, (C.K.D)	47730001 to 47730114

Total 1954 86" model production, 15080 vehicles. Total 1954 107" model production, 3820 vehicles. Total 1954 production 18900 vehicles.

1955 Models.

86"

Basic model Home models	57100001 to 57108185
Right hand drive export	57160001 to 57163537
Left hand drive export	57130001 to 57135760
Right hand drive export, (C.K.D)	57660001 to 57662250
Left hand drive export, (C.K.D)	57630001 to 57630482

107"

Basic model Home models	57200001 to 57201205
Right hand drive export	57260001 to 57263863
Left hand drive export	57230001 to 57232120
Right hand drive export, (C.K.D)	57760001 to 57761436
Left hand drive export, (C.K.D)	57730001 to 57730066

Total 1955 86" model production, 20214 vehicles. Total 1955 107" model production, 8690 vehicles. Total 1955 production 18900 vehicles.

1956 Models.

86"

Basic model Home models	170600001 to 170604807
Right hand drive export	176600001 to 176602441
Left hand drive export	173600001 to 173604433
Right hand drive export, (C.K.D)	177600001 to 177601367
Left hand drive export, (C.K.D)	174600001 to 174601000

107"

Basic model Home models	270600001 to 270600948
Right hand drive export	276600001 to 276603054
Left hand drive export	273600001 to 273602399
Right hand drive export, (C.K.D)	277600001 to 277601188
Left hand drive export, (C.K.D)	274600001 to 274600246

107" station Wagon

Basic model Home models	870600001 to 870600066
Right hand drive export	876600001 to 876600550
Left hand drive export	873600001 to 873600632
Right hand drive export, (C.K.D)	877600001 to 877600012
Left hand drive export, (C.K.D)	874600001 to 877600006

C.K.D stands for Completely Knocked Down which means that the vehicle was despatched out to its destination, unassembled and was assembled by the Local main dealer or importer.
Total 1956 86" model production, 14048 vehicles. 1956 107" (standard) model production, 7835 vehicles. Total 1956 107" Station Wagon production 1266 vehicles. Total 1956 production 23149 vehicles.

1957 Models

107" station Wagon

Basic model Home models	131700001 to 131700053
Right hand drive export	132700001 to 132701024
Right hand drive export (C.K.D)	133700001 to 133700024
Left hand drive export	134700001 to 134701283
Left hand drive export, (C.K.D)	135700001 to 135700036

Total 1957 107" Station Wagon Production, 2420 vehicles.

1958 Models

107" station Wagon

Basic model Home models	131800001 to 131800120
Right hand drive export	132800001 to 132801541
Right hand drive export (C.K.D)	133800001 to 133800036
Left hand drive export	134800001 to 134801618
Left hand drive export, (C.K.D)	135800001 onwards (unknown)

Total 1958 107" Station Wagon Production, 3315 vehicles. Total 86" production 49351 vehicles. Total 107" (Standard) production 20348. 107" Station wagon production 7007.

Engine Numbers.

Land Rover engine numbers follow along the lines of the chassis number sequence of the basic right or left hand model of that year, (listed above). The engine number is found on the left hand side of the engine bay. It is stamped on the flat face just above the exhaust valve rocker cover and beside the exhaust manifold at the front of the engine. On very late 2-litre engines it is stamped a second time on the engine block at the back left side above the camshaft cover. The engine carried on in production for the first 88" Series Two.

Gearbox Numbers.

Once again Land Rover gearbox numbers follow on the same lines of the chassis number sequence, (listed above) The gearbox number can be found on the top right side of the gearbox casing, beside where the transfer case bolts on. This top piece is removable and is occasionally lost. Gearbox part changes are quite extensive and include changes in the transfer box including the change from constant four wheel drive to selectable two/four wheel drive.

Axle Numbers.

The Land Rover axle numbers follow along the lines of the chassis number sequence, (listed above) The axle number is found on the left hand side of the differential casing. It is on the top which can make the rear axle hard to read.

Other ID Numbers.

There are two other id numbers that are often forgotten. The first one is the chassis build number. This is the mysterious number that appears on the chassis an seemingly does not look like much but it is the chassis build number. This is just a running number of chassis's that were produce in a given production time. We know that the chassis number was only issued to the chassis when the vehicle was being assembled. To keep a running on how many chassis had been made they put in the chassis build number
- © Michael Bishop