The ‘Legend’ being Land Rover and the event being the GCA visit to the Solihull   factory of this, virtually, last remaining British vehicle.  Yes I know it’s owned by Ford but it is made in England and it looks British.  OK so you’ve figured out by now that I might be a little bit prejudiced about British cars, I admit it and that’s why I drive a modern MG and have a classic MG sitting in my garage at home. Let’s face it the Land Rover is the quintessential British vehicle and is in use the World over in its many guises. Off road and on it says Great Britain wherever you see it and in its latest form it turns heads wherever it appears.

Apparently Land Rover was conceived as a means of obtaining steel plate for the Rover factory back in 1947 when, if you were exporting vehicles you got to the top of the list for obtaining steel which was in very short supply. The fact that there was quite a lot of aluminium in the Land Rover was irrelevant: it was being exported. The success of the original model took Rover by surprise but they quickly rose to the challenge and the result was the world-wide acceptance of the vehicle as the only means of dedicated off road transport freely available and this despite the glut of ex. military Willy’s Jeeps which could be picked up for a song. It also became a firm favourite of the farming community both at home and abroad.

Some twenty or so people had signed up for the event which took the form of a buffet lunch followed by a factory tour. We were warmly welcomed by Nicky who directed  us to the tea and coffee available in the reception area served in real china cups and saucers, no plastic rubbish here. As the attendees drifted in by ones and twos introductions were made and name tags pinned on and when all had arrived the buffet was served.  Yes I do mean served because there was a lovely lady behind the display of titbits who explained what each particular tray had to offer.  Not the usual hit and miss affair with buffets where half the time you don’t know what you have picked until you put it in your mouth by which time it is too late to decide you don’t like it. The buffet was excellent and there was more than enough for seconds if you were that way inclined. Yes, I was and yes, I did!

At this point we were joined by our tour guides and shown a very interesting video of Land Rovers’ history from 1947 to date; hence the interesting bits in the earlier paragraphs. Before we could commence the actual tour we had to put on our protective gear, consisting of a stylish white coat (yes the ice cream jokes were done), wrist watch cover, ring cover, a pair of protective glasses and a set of ear plugs, this was as much to protect the product as it was to protect us, after which we were ready to go.

We were split up into three manageable groups and asked to board three Land Rover Defenders two of which are the only stretch Defenders in the UK. We were told that this mod is a speciality of the South African production facility from where the extra pairs of doors were procured. These stretched Land Rovers cost £65,000.00 each to produce making this the most expensive vehicle, apart from coaches, trains and planes, that I have travelled in.

Our guide, Graham, was a retired Land Rover divisional chief engineer so he knew what he was talking about he had spent his entire working life with the company having started with them as an apprentice draughtsman. Our group of six were first shown the Discovery production line where we found out that every vehicle they put together is built to order and all are different. The logistics of this make the mind boggle especially when you realise they only have 4 hours worth of components on site, working a very sophisticated ‘Just In Time’ system. In fact we found out later that they actually carry about a day and a half of panel stock but these they manufacture on site. (More on this later.)

We watched as about six or seven black Discos rolled past us on the line closely followed by three white, a green and a burgundy.  You would have thought they might at least do all of one colour at the same time but not so.  They appear as they have been ordered at it is not unusual we were told to see a succession of different colours one behind the other.  The unusual was to see six of the same colour in succession as we had just done.  The scale of the operation is huge with over 8,000 people working on this 300 acre site.

We followed the line to where they were installing the facias as a complete unit. There are 800 variations for the facia when all the in-car entertainment, climate control, regional differences etc. are taken into account and then this doubles to 1600 when you add in the left and right hand drive variants.  Mind boggling! The facia assemblies are manufactured by Siemens and remain their property until correctly installed in the vehicle.  In fact there is a Siemens engineer here checking that the correct facia goes into the correct vehicle and if he gets it wrong Siemens foots the bill for correcting the error.  We followed the line through all the assembly processes, glazing, carpets, upholstery, wheels, engine/gearbox, fluids.  It goes on and on and you really need to see it to appreciate how smoothly it all seems to run.

We next went to the panel pressing facility which was about a five minute drive away, which gives you an idea of the size of this factory complex .  This new unit was one of the state of the art systems installed during the BMW years and cost a mere eighty million pounds.  The press facility houses a 5,000 ton five station press, the whole thing being built over a sixteen meter thick reinforced concrete foundation with the press itself supported on a further meter of shock absorbing material and supported by hydraulic rams.  This was so effective that even though we were standing less than twenty feet away from the press there was no vibration transmitted at all during the progressive five station pressing operation.  The speed with which the panels were moving through this huge piece of machinery was impressive to say the least, a 45 second cycle time.  The press tools themselves weighed in at 50 tons apiece with one particular tool being so heavy that it has to be transported in two pieces, it being over the limit for the 50 ton capacity overhead cranes.  The press shop team are rightly proud of their expertise having the accolade of currently producing the largest one piece aluminium pressing, and the deepest drawn, in the automotive world.  This being the Discovery bonnet.  Removing our ear defenders, it might not have vibrated but it did make a lot of noise, we made our way back to our stretch limo and climbed aboard for the short trip to the body welding line.

This is where the robots come into their own.  Like a line of regimented preying mantises, (or should it be mantii, I wonder?) these incredible machines pick and place the panels, spin round and drop the carrying heads, pick up the spot welding head, spin again and with a shower of sparks, neatly weld one, or more, sections together.

Walking down the line we came to a cage labelled ‘Nutting’ which is where the nuts are welded to the panels.  Each nut is automatically delivered to the exact spot above its corresponding hole and then welded on but only after the inside of the nut is checked by laser to ensure it actually has a thread.  If only one unthreaded nut is welded on at this stage the whole panel has to be scrapped so you can understand the care exercised here.  Following the component part down the line while they gradually increase in size and shape is certainly something to see.  Then there are two halves of the body being bought together onto a massive jig, the cross members and floor already in place.  Six, or was it eight, robot spot welders descend into every available space making the whole operation look like a feeding frenzy and Hey Presto!  There is suddenly something that is actually recognisable as a Land Rover.

On the short ride back to the ‘Legend’ visitor centre we passed the test track where they test each vehicle for squeaks and rattles over a series of different uneven and undulating surfaces.  In the unlikely, we were told, event of a squeak or rattle being found the vehicle is taken to an area where it is subjected to a range various frequencies to identify the location of the fault and then to be put right.  It was mentioned by someone in the party that rumour has it that if they test a ‘Defender’ and don’t find a squeak or rattle there is a department that puts them in.  Our guide refused to confirm or deny this.

On reaching the Legend building we decamped from our transport and before going back in had a look at the comprehensive display of a variety of Land Rovers dotted about the periphery of the car park.  One or two of these are neatly displayed on top of some quite large boulders at the entrance to one of the off road circuits.  A few of the group expressed a wish to return at a later date to have a go on the off road course.  If anyone is interested in joining this future outing please contact Max Rowland.

Back into the centre to divest ourselves of the protective gear and grab another cup of coffee before  a short wind down speech from our chairman, the aforementioned Max and then, having collected our certificates and a small goody bag it was time to say farewell and wend our various ways home.  In my opinion a very worthwhile way to spend an afternoon and I most heartily recommend it to you.

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