expected that Rover's stylist David Bache would provide a design for the outer panels for use on the production vehicles. For the prototypes the engineers designed their own functional body panels simply to protect the occupants and to allow the vehicles to be driven legally on the road. However the clean, square-cut and functional design of the prototype was deemed so good that Bache only altered the detailing, such as providing a different front grille and headlamp design. The Range Rover also marked the first appearance of Bache's trademark "symmetric" dashboard, where a common moulding was used for the fascia superstructure on both RHD and LHD versions, onto which the pod-style instrument binnacle was simply mounted on the appropriate side – Bache would use this concept again on both the Rover SD1 and the Austin Metro in later years. The original fascia would later be nicknamed the "Airfix Dashboard" by Range Rover enthusiasts owing to its hard, low quality plastics which, as the vehicle moved upmarket over the years, betrayed its humble beginnings as a utility vehicle, It remained with the Range Rover up until the very last years of production when it was replaced by the "soft dash" (see below) Early vehicles may be distinguished by the rear 'C' pillars being absent of a vinyl covering which was introduced a little later in the 1970s. One of the first significant changes came in 1981, with the introduction of a four-door body. Until then, Range Rovers only had two doors for the sake of body strength, making access to the rear seats – especially ingress – rather awkward, and that was disliked by rich customers in Africa and the Middle East who usually had chauffeurs. These doors were also very large and heavy. Egress was somewhat alleviated by the special design feature of having two inside door-opening latches: latches in the front of the doors for the driver and front passenger, and a second set of equally large and prominently styled door-opener latches on the inside rear of the doors (behind the front seats), providing rear seat occupants full autonomy to leave the vehicle. They could easily fold the seats in front of them forward, and open the door from their rear seat locations in a somewhat convenient manner. Several companies offered conversions to four-door Range Rovers in the late 1970s. One of these companies' conversions, by Monteverdi, was even