Entry level Land Rover 丨 Freelander 20 years ago, the original Land Rover Freelander L314

Mondo Cars Updated on 2024-01-31

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Back inIn 1988, the British "state-owned enterprise" - BAE acquired the Rover Group, and acquired the two car brands of Rover and Land Rover.

At that time, the British *** was still on the normal track, and it was natural to develop new cars, so in 1989, the "lifestyle" project was launched, and a small urban off-road vehicle was developed through the cooperation of the two brands, so as to conform to the trend and increase product sales and reduce production costs by the way.

Later, the project was renamed "Pathfinder" (the same name as the Nissan Pathfinder launched in 1985), and the renamed Pathfinder project adopted a similar competitive system, allowing Rover and Land Rover to design their own products, and then Land Rover designed the prototype "Land Rover Pathfinder", and Rover also designed the prototype "Rover Oden".

Land Rover Pathfinder (left) with Rover Oden (right). (Source: James Taylor).

Eventually, the leadership adopted a "more professional-looking" approach to Land Rover, and began to develop the compact SUV under the code name CB40. However, in 1994, during the development period, BAE sold the Rover Group to the German BMW Group, and BMW recognized and invested in the CB40 project, so this model was officially born in 1997 under the name "Freelander", and in the following years, it became one of the best-selling off-road models in Europe.

Around 2001, the first early version of the Land Rover Freelander imported into China was priced at about 550,000 yuan, all equipped with 25-liter V6 engine.

In addition to the stepped and square appearance of this model, the rear window can be raised and closed, which is one of the trends of the year.

The Land Rover Freelander mainly has two body styles: five-door hard top and three-door soft top, which is a load-bearing body structure and has a length of 4Within 5 meters, the wheelbase is also 2At about 56 meters, the size is very small compared to the new models that are dancing like demons at the moment.

Mechanically it is equipped with the 18 liters or KV6 series (also the same as the Roewe 750) 2The 5-liter V6 self-aspirated gasoline engine is matched with a 5MT or 5AT transmission (provided by JATCO in Japan), the chassis is a front-wheel drive base + a full-time four-wheel drive system with a viscous coupler, and there are configurations such as independent suspension and steep hill descent.

The three-door version of the early stage of Freelander seems to have a playful smell similar to Suzuki Vitasoy, and the rear end of the convertible can also be covered with an optional plastic lid.

In 2001, the Land Rover was abandoned by BMW and fell into the hands of Ford. Subsequently, in 2003, Land Rover gave the original Freelander a mid-term facelift, and the appearance had major changes in the front face, wheels, etc., and it became not too "stupid".

Photographed by @小阳, a Land Rover Freelander with a license plate in Nanning, Guangxi, was manufactured between 2004 and 2006, and the price was reduced to about 450,000 yuan at that time.

This Freelander is in excellent condition, with a silver body and black scuff strips, which is very modern, I like it!

Land Rover Freelander Original, late version, interior view. Although it is an entry-level model, it still has a hint of luxury with Land Rover at a glance.

In 2006, Land Rover, under the rule of the Ford Group, launched the Freelander II L359 based on the group's EUCD platform, this generation of models canceled the spare wheel plug-in setting, and was sold in North America under the name LR2, and a large number of imported domestic sales, including many diesel models, which will not be repeated here.

(ENDS).

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