Series III Stage 1 V8.

By the late 1970s the Series III's 2.25-litre engines were badly outgunned in the export markets Land Rover depended on, and Japanese rivals were taking sales. British Leyland's answer was the first stage of a major government-backed investment plan for Land Rover - hence the name 'Stage 1' - which put the 3.5-litre all-aluminium Rover V8 petrol engine into the Series III. To cope, the V8 was paired with the Range Rover and 101 Forward Control's LT95 four-speed gearbox with a lockable centre differential, making the Stage 1 the only Series III with permanent four-wheel drive.

The V8 was detuned from the contemporary Range Rover's 135 bhp to around 91 bhp at low revs, trading outright pace for torque, reliability and the ability to run on poor fuel. The longer engine and gearbox pushed the radiator forward to sit flush with the front of the wings behind a distinctive flat grille - a face the coil-sprung One Ten would inherit. Underneath, however, the Stage 1 kept the Series III's leaf springs and drum brakes largely unchanged.

The Stage 1 went on sale in February 1979 as an export-only model, aimed at markets such as Africa and Australia, and became available to UK buyers in 1980. It was normally sold only in 109-inch long-wheelbase form as a pick-up, hard top or station wagon; a mere 24 examples were built on the 88-inch short wheelbase, making the SWB Stage 1 one of the rarest production Series Land Rovers of all. In Australia, vehicles could be had from 1981 with a factory-fitted Isuzu 4BD1 diesel in place of the V8 - a pairing that foreshadowed the later Perentie programme.

Production ran alongside the new coil-sprung One Ten from 1983 until 1985, and the Stage 1's drivetrain layout - permanent 4WD with a locking centre diff - became standard for every Ninety, One Ten and Defender that followed. Total production figures were never published, but surviving chassis records show thousands were built, the great majority exported; a small number are thought to have served with British forces.