260AC

260AC was built in 1948, before the Land Rover was officially unveiled to the world at the Amsterdam Motor Show in April of that year. As a pre-production vehicle, it carries the designation R16 — placing it among the earliest examples ever constructed.

260AC's first role was as a launch vehicle for Land Rover in the UK during May 1948 at the Bath and West Show held in Cardiff that year. Later that year the vehicle moved to Rover's Factory Service Department at Solihull where she spent her entire working life upto the early 1980s.

These pre-production vehicles were built to test and refine the design, and many were subsequently destroyed or heavily modified. Around 20 of the original 48 vehicles are known to survive in any form, making each one an irreplaceable artefact of British automotive history.

Registered as HNX 331, 260AC has been preserved and maintained in running condition. It is not a static exhibit — it is driven, experienced, and researched as a working vehicle, exactly as it was intended.