The Rover Company (originator of the Land Rover vogue) was experimenting with a larger model than the Land Rover Series in 1951, when the Rover P4-based two-wheel-drive “Road Rover” project was developed by Gordon Bashford.This was shelved in 1958 and the idea lay dormant until 1966, when engineersĀ Spen KingĀ and Bashford set to work on a new model.