One way of saving time was to get the prototype part built on the standard production line at the weekend, when the line wasn’t too busy. They built as much as possible from standard parts and then wheeled it round for us to put the V8 bits on. We built all prototypes completely from scratch.
We were very excited when we tested the first prototype. The V8 put out around 90bhp a dramatic improvement in power and torque over the old 2.25 petrol. Remember when we were testing one of the first vehicles, on a downhill section of the M6 being able to pass and almost harass other cars.
One incident particularly remembers was in the outside lane. In those days Land Rovers never appeared in the outside lane, and there almost pushing a car to get out of the way. The engines were unrestricted and they were a bit hairy at 90mph, especially on the three inch wide front drum brakes.
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