The original Land Rover was designed by an engineer Maurice Wilks who modeled it after the US-made Jeeps from the Second World War. Maurice decided to keep the vehicle's layout simple and more tractor-like, as it was conceived as an agricultural vehicle, so he put the steering wheel in the middle. It also meant that Rover could dodge the nuisance of building two different versions of the same vehicle for left-hand and right-hand drive markets.