Land Rover Defender – Launch Event

24 Feb

If there’s one vehicle that is synonymous with expeditions and exploration then it has to be the Land Rover Defender. It’s been the pack horse that has enabled millions of exciting and sometimes ground breaking journeys worldwide for over 70 years.

It’s been a huge part of my life right from the very beginning when my dad used his Series 2 Land Rover to get my mum to hospital to give birth to me in blizzard conditions in west Wales in 1981. My great aunt used to work as PA to the Production Manager at the Land Rover factory in Solihull. I also remember accompanying my dad when he reached the finals of the Land Rover Driver of the Year competition in the 1990’s and I subsequently participated in the Land Rover G4 Challenge selections having returned from the Polar Challenge in 2005. My dad (a farmer turned 4×4 instructor) now runs Wood Park Off-Road, an off-road driving experience and training centre in Pembrokeshire where he uses two Land Rover Defender 110’s.

So, you can imagine my excitement when I was invited to speak at the launch of the new Land Rover Defender at the new Inchcape Jaguar Land Rover showroom in Derby.

Not only was I asked to unveil the new vehicle but I also got to see and sit in the Land Rover Defender SVX ‘Spectre’ used in James Bond Spectre, one of ten originals built by Bowler for the Austrian mountain top chase scene. The chase involving a plane and Land Rovers was allegedly the the most expensive stunt in history.

Watch the video of the launch event here.

All I need now is to test-drive the new Land Rover Defender at Wood Park Off-Road so I can see for myself how technology has transformed this iconic vehicle.