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Wikipedia: Land Rover Freelander
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History
The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Land Rover Freelander page on 25 September 2018, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The Land Rover Freelander was a compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) which was produced by the British manufacturer Land Rover, in both two-wheel and four-wheel drive versions, from 1997 to 2014. The second generation, launched in 2007, was marketed as the LR2 in North America and as the Freelander 2 in Europe.
It uses a monocoque (unibody) structure, in common with almost all other crossovers in its class, but unlike traditional SUVs built with body-on-frame designs. The Freelander was replaced by the Discovery Sport in 2015.
First generation (L314; 1997–2006)
Market research by the Rover Group in the late 1980s suggested that Land Rover could enter the compact SUV market segment. In the early 1990s, the Rover Group had a restricted product development budget and looked for a partner to develop the project, which was codenamed CB40 (after Canley Building 40, where the concept was initially developed). Rover's then-partner Honda declined and chose to develop its own CR-V model that was launched in 1995.
Rover decided to go it alone with the CB40, using existing parts and components, as it had done with the MGF roadster. The floorpan was based on that of the Austin Maestro, and minor components such as interior door handles were Maestro items. When BMW took over Rover Group in 1994, the CB40 project received the capital it needed to proceed. In December 2007, Autocar reported that early development designs and sketches of the Freelander featured Hyundai badging, suggesting that a tie up between both manufacturers was being proposed. The design of the Freelander was by Gerry McGovern, who went on become the head of design at Land Rover in 2007.
Freelander 2 (L359; 2006–2014)
The second generation, named the Freelander 2 (codename L359), debuted at the 2006 British International Motor Show retaining the Freelander name in Europe and marketed as the LR2 in North America — mirroring the marketing of the new third generation Land Rover Discovery as LR3. A presentation at the Kensington Roof Gardens was held for journalists featuring celebrity tennis player Maria Sharapova. Production ended at the end of 2014.
The second generation Freelander is based on the Ford EUCD platform, which itself is based on the Ford C1 platform. The Ford EUCD platform will be used by more upcoming vehicles from Volvo. The engine range is all-new for Freelander, featuring transversely-mounted 3.2-litre straight-six engine of the Ford SI6 series, which debuted in the new Volvo S80, as well as the 2.2-litre DW12 common rail turbodiesel engine, co-developed by Ford and PSA Peugeot Citroën.
| Date | Article | Author/Source |
|---|---|---|
| 30 June 2006 | Land Rover LR2, Back On The Streets | Carol Mitchel |
| 20 July 2006 | Freeing The Land Rover Freelander | Stacey Wilson |
| 18 June 2008 | 2008 Land Rover LR2: A Better Version "Freelander" | Anthony Fontanelle |
| Type & Item # | Name | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Die Cast Model Kit - Testors 430001 | Landrover | QuickBuilder!, 1:24 scale, Land Rover Freelander/LR2, prepainted dark red |