Why This ‘British Jeep’ Can Sell for $170K in the U.S. | WSJ Coveted
Jul 7, 2026
#LandRover #Cars #WSJ
Ever since Jaguar Land Rover ceased production of the classic Land Rover Defender, fans have been snapping up discontinued models and breathing new life into them. Now, the value of old Land Rovers is rocketing as a new generation of car enthusiasts falls in love with this simple off-roader.
WSJ explains why the classic “British Jeep” has surged in popularity, and why they can sell for up to $170,000 in the U.S.
10:54
Land Rover.
My first fight is a battle lost long ago; but IMHO (as a purist) those original-descendant Land Rovers, with the headlights wide apart, are...suspect. They were long after the company was reeling from its British-Leyland misadventure...BL, for those who don't know, was the super-merger bringing BMC and Leyland Motors together, basically creating a UK monopoly of all but Rolls-Royce. Like a lot of American conglomerates, it quickly melted down, and the British Labour government took it over as a State industry.
Quality went into the toilet. As so often happens when automakers merge...the pressure was no longer how to update the MGB or bring out the next Triumph roadster, but, how to "rationalize" production. Austin-Healy became a rebadged Midget. The MGB was left as a dead end, and finally discontinued, as BL poured money into the Next New Thing, the Triumph TR7.
Which failed. Poor quality control; Labour-supported union work stoppages, and moving the line two times. "The Shape of Things to Come" only lasted three years and was the end of Triumph.
Jaguar was sold to Ford. Rover was sold to...somebody, who botched it. Land-Rover, part of Rover, was separated, and left without development for some years, until Ford came in, and then IIRC, Tata of India.
But. The pre-1975 LRs, not yet burdened with the "Discovery" cutism...were...TRUCKS. Trucks the world thought a lot of. The claim was one Land Rover could outwork any Jeep ever made. I doubt that, but that it was as good, says a lot about 1948 British engineering.
Car and Driver's British contributor, L. J. K. Setright, did a four-page history of Land Rover, the development, the company, and the product, and how in his opinion, the then-new Range Rover was an effete car for urban professionals - a high-priced Subaru Super-Star (the original 4wd wagon of theirs). He talked about Africa expeditions that BL had supplied Range Rovers for, in which the vehicles became stuck - and locals had to pull them out using, what else, Land Rovers.
Wish I could find the article archived. I tried...it was sometime Spring 1978. I had a subscription and read it.
Calling that wide-eyed thing a "traditional" Land Rover...
BLASPHEMY.