My heavens, I canne' believe this one hasn't been filled in yet.
The Land Rover Line is probably one of the most distinguished atomobile lines in history. It was doing 'off road' before off road'ing was cool.
Founded in 1948 in England, the Land Rover company set out to make one of the first line of utilitarian four-wheel drive conveyances geared towards farmers. They were built for work, not looks.. and it shows. They were not for turning heads -- they were for uprooting stumps.
The original Land Rover (now going by the moniker 'Defender') was the perfect vehicle for any rural worker in the Isles. It could go anywhere and do it well. So well recieved were they that King George VI purchased himself one.
Today, after being purchased by the Ford Motor Company, the Land Rover has evolved into a more of a Luxary Line. The original 'Defender' is still there, with the 'Discovery', the 'Range Rover' and the 'Freelander'.
...no, I don't own one, but I work for a dot.com, so everyone else here does.