Land Lord.(Escape Roads)

Byline: ERIC TEGLER

"It gets you around,'' Robert Raffensperger says dryly of his 1964 Series II Land Rover. "We drove 10,000 miles in it last year, to and from Alaska.''

Like its Rover counterparts, Raffensperger's long-wheelbase Land Rover has been getting around for four decades. It has driven the lengths of Europe, Africa and America on smooth pavement and uncharted trails-just as a Land Rover was meant to do.

The Land Rover's origins lie with the Rover company's chief engineer, Maurice Wilks. Brother of company chairman Spencer Wilks, Maurice had used a U.S. Army surplus Willys Jeep on his estate in North Wales in the years following World War II. This legendary bit of American iron gave Wilks the idea of producing an adaptable workhorse for British farmers.

The first Land Rover made its debut at Amsterdam in 1948. Its box-section steel chassis was based largely on the Jeep, but its body panels were aluminum, owing to steel shortages in postwar Britain. With an 80-inch wheelbase and a 1.6-liter four-cylinder from a Rover saloon, the short-wheelbase Land Rover was a hit. By 1959 a quarter-million had been sold.

Launched in 1958, Series IIs differed from their predecessors principally in the adoption of a new 2286-cc four-cylinder and wider axles. However, the Series II retained most of the bits and pieces of the Series I, including its body panels, leaf-spring suspension and drum brakes. In 1961 came the addition of the Series IIa, with a 2.2-liter diesel option and minor cooling system changes.

Solidly utilitarian and the very image of a safari-going vehicle, the Series II was offered until 1971 when the Series III, or Range Rover, debuted. Nevertheless, the Series II is the platform on which Rover built its off-road reputation with various military, emergency and special versions scattered across the globe alongside standard Land Rovers.