This 1948 Land Rover show vehicle is going to get a new lease on life.

Back in 1948, the world was recovering from the ravages of World War II and planning for a brighter future. That was also the same year that a British company changed the world of four-wheel drive vehicles forever. The Rover Company debuted its new Land Rover brand of all-terrain vehicles. Land Rover showed off three of its rugged, capable vehicles at the 1948 Amsterdam Motor Show. You’re looking right at one of the vehicles that established the signature Land Rover design. It’s been missing for decades, but Land Rover has it now – just in time to restore it for the brand’s 70th anniversary.

The specialists at Jaguar Land Rover Classic will preserve the patina of this historic vehicle.

It started life as a left-hand-drive model that Land Rover officially listed as “Experimental.” Like the other 47 pre-production Land Rovers that were manufactured before the automaker started mass production, this rig has a galvanized chassis, a removable rear tub, and thicker aluminum alloy body panels. Later in 1948, it was converted to right-hand-drive and upgraded with new engine parts.

Seven years later, someone formally registered this Land Rover for the first time. In 1961, it changed owners, then spent the next seven years moving from one location to another, traveling from Handsworth, South Yorkshire to Sutton Coldfield to Stratford-Upon-Avon to Alvechurch, Worcestershire, England. It was roving land, but not in the good way. By 1968, it was a fixture in a Welsh field, being used as a static power supply. Flash forward 20 years and this once important piece of Land Rover history had a seized engine and yet another new owner, this time in Birmingham.

The engine seized decades ago, but it will eventually run again.

Two years ago, someone spotted this important automotive relic wasting away in an English garden. That’s not all that surprising, considering this Land Rover spent most of its days in England. What is shocking is that it was in a garden a few miles outside of Solihull – where it was originally built. The experts at Jaguar Land Rover Classic Works will spend the next several months preserving this prototype and getting it back to running condition just a few miles away in Coventry. Land Rover will allow previous owners to come by the facility and witness the process for themselves.

JLR Classic will not restore the history out of this rolling artifact, though. They’ll keep the patina on its parts and even preserve the original, 70-year-old Light Green paint on the slab-sided body. (However, we have a feeling they’ll need to change the tires.)

JLR Classic’s artisans will keep the 70-year-old paint on this rig when they overhaul it.

According to Jaguar Land Rover Classic Director Tim Hannig, “This Land Rover is an irreplaceable piece of world automotive history and is as historically important as ‘Huey’, the first pre-production Land Rover. Beginning its sympathetic restoration here at Classic Works, where we can ensure it’s put back together precisely as it’s meant to be, is a fitting way to start Land Rover’s 70th anniversary year.”

Even decades of neglect can’t make this vintage Land Rover look ugly.

Celebrating its own history by bringing it back to life is nothing new to the brand. Land Rover’s Series I Reborn program allows customers to buy painstakingly restored Series Is – with a 12-month warranty.