Originally, these vehicles were simply called the 'Land Rover' – an off-road capable car model of the Rover Company. As 'Land Rover' became established as a brand, the 'Series' indication later became a retronymmodel name. The Range Rover was introduced in 1970, and the company became a British Leyland subsidiary in 1978. In 1983 and 1984, the long and the short wheelbase Land Rovers were finally given official names – the One Ten, and the Ninety respectively, and together they were badged the Defender models in 1990, after the 1989 introduction of the new Discovery model.   The design for the original vehicle was started in 1947 by Maurice Wilks. Wilks, chief designer at the Rover Company, on his farm in Newborough, Anglesey, working in conjunction with his brother Spencer who was the managing director of Rover. The design may have been influenced by the Jeep  and the prototype, later nicknamed Centre Steer, was built on a Jeep chassis and axles. The early choice of colour was dictated by military surplussupplies of aircraft cockpit paint, so early vehicles only came in various shades of light green. Starting with the series I Land Rover, all models in this era featured sturdy box-section ladder-frame chassis.[13] Early vehicles like the Series I were field-tested at Long Bennington and designed to be field-serviced.