This was the engine which was installed in the first Series 1 Land Rovers from 1948 to 1951 and over 61,000 were sold. 

It was not however a new design for the new Land Rover because it had been fitted to the Rover 60 car previously (otherwise known as the P3).

To match the engine more towards its new role in a Land Rover workhorse and to facilitate its ability to work even on low quality fuel, the compression ratio was lowered a little and a new camshaft designed. These modifications gave more torque at lower revs - though there was a loss of power at high revs.

The engine was of the 'inlet over exhaust' type; which means that the exhaust valves were on the side of the engine block but the inlet valves were on the top.

The very earliest of the Series 1 Land Rovers had engines with two black plates bolted to the right hand side of the block. These were known as "side plate" types. Later 1.6 litre engines had circular core plugs in the side of the engine and are correspondingly known as "core plug" engines.

Generally, the engine sump for the early Series 1's were stepped but, by 1951, a 2 litre engine had been developed and the gently curving sump for this new engine was also fitted to the later 1.6 litre engines.

Engine specs:

Swept engine volume: 1595 cc

cylinder bore: 69.5mm

piston stroke: 105mm