Land Rover Stage One V8.

 From 1979 until 1985, the Stage One was built  using some of the same components as the Range Rover and 101 Forward Control, such as the LT95 gearbox and 3,5 litre Rover v8 petrol engine. The engine was detuned to 91 hk from the 135 hk of the contemporary Range Rover. The vehicle came about because the competingToyota Land Cruiser and Nissan Patrol vehicles, fitted with powerful and durable 6-cylinders engines, were making considerable inroads into the market, particulary in Australia and Africa. A v8 powered Land Rover with the Range Rover,s constant 4WD system was a considerable technological advancement on the part-time 4WD and 4 cylinders engines of previous variants, though the Stage One still used the Series III leaf springs.

Stage One refers to the first stage of investment by the British Government in the company to improve the Land Rover and Range Rover product offerings to counter the aforementioned market challenges, and were a transitional development on the way to the coil sprung Land Rover 90 and 110. The use of the Range Rover engine and drive train made it the only Series III vehicle to have permanent four wheel drive.

Most of the v8 Stage One vehicles were exported, as the larger engine was not really sought after by UK owners, or elsewhere in europe, for whoom the four cylinder 2286cc engine seemed to be suffient and somewhat more economical. A small number may have been used by the British armed forces.