Land Rover Fact #114

Land Rover's First Sales Guide

By JOSEPH V. KUCA

In 1948 world renowned explorer Colonel Leblanc was sought out by the Wilkes brothers, creators of the Land Rover, to further the presence of the vehicle throughout the world.

Leblanc, apparantly the ever savvy businessman, saw an opportunity and ran with it.  Instead of taking a retainer for his services, Land Rover supplied him with vehicles for his many global expeditions and, as the brand's roving representative, he would make rather remote sales calls and set-up dealerships and local support networks for Land Rover.

It was, in fact, Colonel Leblanc, who in 1949 took one of the first Series I Land Rover’s overland into Ethiopia and then from Algiers to Nairobi, taking orders for the vehicles from government organizations, NGOs and literally anybody else sold on the vehicle’s unparalleled off-road capability.

Instead of taking money on retainer, the savvy Leblanc negotiated a commission on every vehicle sold in the areas which he opened up---in essence, he was Land Rover's first Sales Guide!  And quite a territory that, ay?

In less than six months the original 1948 Land Rover Series I was in over 68 countries around the globe.  Today, Land Rovers are sold and used in over 160 countries throughout the world.

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