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The Land Rover Llama is a vehicle that was designed and developed by the British company Land Rover in the mid-1980s. 11 prototypes and a single production vehicle were built during 1986/7 with the hope of winning a contract from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to replace its existing fleet of Land Rover 101 gun tractors. Heavily based on the contemporary Land Rover One Ten, the Llama was intended to be sold on both the military and civilian markets. However, the MoD did not choose Land Rover's design and without the security of these sales Land Rover was unwilling to risk putting the Llama on the market. The name 'Llama' was only the codename given to the development project- the vehicle was actually called the Land Rover 110 Forward Control in official Land Rover documentation. However, the design is now known to enthusiasts of the Land Rover marque as 'the Llama'. ==Background== Land Rover as a company went through a period of restructuring in the 1980s. This involved improving the company's products, leading to the launch of the Ninety/One Ten/127 range in 1983/4 as well as updates to the Range Rover. When Rover car production left the Solihull factory, Land Rover was able to close its numerous satellite factories in Birmingham and bring engine, gearbox and other component manufacture under one roof. As part of these changes, Land Rover wanted to reduce the amount of specialist conversion work that it sent 'out of house' to other companies. This led to the creation of the Special Vehicles Division and to the start of the Llama project. In order to open up the more heavy-duty end of the off-road vehicle market (as occupied by vehicles such as the Mercedes-Benz Unimog), it was decided to develop a version of the existing Land Rover capable of carrying larger and heavier loads. Such a vehicle would also be capable of being the basis of numerous bodystyles and equipment options. The project was spurred on by a decision from the Ministry of Defence to replace its fleet of Land Rover 101 Forward Controls, which were gun tractors specially built by Land Rover in the 1970s. Over 1700 101s had been sold to the MoD, plus small numbers to other military buyers. At a time when Land Rover sales were falling worldwide, winning such an order would provide a much-needed boost to the company. Land Rover had produced 'Forward Control' (i.e.- vehicles where the driving controls were positioned over or just ahead of the front axle) of its Series II models in the 1960s, based on the standard long-wheelbase chassis. It made sense to use a similar design for the new version. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Land Rover Llama」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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