News : Freelander 1 becomes latest Land Rover heritage vehicle

Freelander XEdi Station Wagon 1998

Produced between 1997 and 2006, the first-generation Land Rover Freelander remains one of the company’s best-selling models and is now officially a Land Rover Heritage vehicle. Land Rover Heritage specialises in cars, services, parts and experiences for classic Land Rover models and the Freelander 1 becomes the brand’s eighth Heritage model. The others are Series I, II and III, Range Rover Classic and P38 Range Rover plus Discovery 1 and 2.

When it was launched, the Freelander broke the mould by pioneering the compact premium 4×4 class and at the time had 16 patented features including Hill Descent Control (HDC), Immediate Reduction Drive (IDR), a viscous-coupling (VCU) and an innovative ABS system designed specifically for off-road situations.

A Heritage model is defined as a product that has been out of production for longer than 10 years and the Freelander 1 was first produced in 1997 and its production run ended nine years later in 2006 when Freelander 2 replaced it. Ever since production of Freelander 1 concluded, Land Rover continued to support owners through the supply of spare parts. Now, owners will be supported by the brand’s Heritage experts and ensure loyal owners continue to enjoy their vehicle for many years to come.

More than 9000 individual Land Rover Heritage Part numbers are available for the Freelander 1 and it adds to the brand’s comprehensive parts catalogue, which already features over 33,000 items for both Jaguar and Land Rover Heritage vehicles.

Tim Hannig, Director, Jaguar Land Rover Heritage, said: ‘With the addition of the Freelander 1 as a Heritage model, Land Rover is reaffirming its support and commitment to its loyal customers by providing exceptional cars, services, parts and experiences for models more than 10 years out of production. Genuine Land Rover Heritage Parts for Freelander 1 have been engineered and tested in extreme conditions. As such it gives our customers total peace-of-mind that their vehicles are maintained to the highest possible standards.’

Mike Humble

9 Comments

  1. Good news for owners of a few other AR vehicles due to the parts commonality as well as the Freelander owners. The KV6 models spring to mind especially.

  2. “When it was launched, the Freelander broke the mould by pioneering the compact premium 4×4 class”

    The RAV4 and CR-V both beat the Freelander to market. I don’t see the Mk1 Freelander as any more “premium” than either of those cars. Better looking yes, but not more upmarket.

    It will be interesting to see the take-up rate on Heritage parts. I get it with a Range Rover Classic or a LR Series model, but most Mk1 Freelanders are run as bangers (sorry Keith) these days, aren’t they?

  3. FL1s are certainly banger money. Although it’s possible that they could sell a lot of parts with the *legendary* FL1 reliability. Consistently in the bottom 5 of the JD Power section on reliability IIRC. The only FL1s I see round these days seem to be hard working hacks being used by people using them for cheap off road load luggers.

    I did look at getting one in my LR owing days but was put off by the various tales of oil leaks, blown turbos and EGR failures on the TD4 engine and numerous engine and transmission maladies. Again IIRC, rear diffs were an issue.

    IMHO probably the least desirable LR ever built, closely followed by the bland and equally troublesome P38.

  4. Hard to see the Freelander 1 as a Heritage vehicle

    Great styling though, it still looks good and was a rare example of a British product successfully muscling into a market pioneered by foreign companies

  5. The only thing ‘Heritage’ about Freelander is its woeful reliability. Land Rover should be paying this site to host cut ‘n’ paste Press Releases like this.

  6. I disagree. The Freelander deserves to be a Heritage vehicle in the long term, but the announcement is maybe 5 years too early. It was an important car for LR and introduced them to a major new audience, which it has since built on with the Evoque and Discovery Sport. The quality on the early Mk1s may have been rubbish, but the concept was bold and exciting enough for people to look past the niggles, and the car sold well throughout its life.

    I think LR should have waited another 5-10 years before making the Freelander a Heritage car, to allow more time for the banger population to have thinned out, leaving only the nice cars.

    Disclaimer – I’m on my second Honda CR-V, a top spec 2013 model. I admire the Freelander from afar, but would never buy one with my own money!

  7. Will this mean interesting K-series bits? I ask as an MGF owner. Shame the FL1 didn’t have Hydragas!

    I wish the F/TF had some sort of “Heritage” support.

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