Land Rover Monthly October 2016

“Freelander fans call their cars Hippos. You can see the resemblance” A recent survey revealed that 75 per cent of British drivers had pet names for their cars. I would wager that among Land Rover owners that figure is even higher. Land Rover models get their own nicknames, too. These are usually simple abbreviations like Disco, Rangy, etc. I thought I knew them all until I read the report from the first-ever Freelander event (see page 106), where I learned that Freelander fans call their favourite cars Hippos. Yes, you can certainly see the resemblance. It’s great to see enthusiasts embracing Freelanders and even staging their own show. All members of the Land Rover family deserve to be loved. Discoverys certainly should be loved by all Solihull devotees. After all,…

A TEAM of 16 year olds from Brisbane, Australia, took first and second place in the Land Rover 4x4 In Schools Technology Challenge, a Jaguar Land Rover education programme that has reached more than three million young people since 1999. The teams spent up to six months designing, building and testing miniature remote-controlled 4x4 vehicles to complete challenging off-road tracks in regional and national finals. They were judged on all elements of their projects, including engineering, marketing and design, and came from all over the world to compete at the Coventry event. The winners from Pine Rivers State School received an Arkwright scholarship at Harper Adams University and an e-mentoring programme which will team them up with Jaguar Land Rover’s engineering graduates.…

INEOS, one of the largest independent chemical companies in the world, announced in July that it was to launch a feasibility study into the possibility to resurrect the Land Rover Defender. The press release also stated that the model would be a limited edition retaining the fabled Defender’s iconic looks, superior reliability and unrivalled off-road credentials, and meet the latest global safety and emission standards. Even in its infancy, the plan, as you can imagine, attracted a huge amount of support from third parties across the globe, and as a passionate advocate of UK manufacturing and a great admirer of the Land Rover Defender, INEOS chairman, Jim Ratcliffe ,was keen to breathe new life into it and make it even better than before. Having supposedly already held exploratory talks with…

GO THE EXTRA MILE LAND ROVERS are generally built to last, but if yours has reached the end of the road and you want to do your bit for charity then Giveacar, a non-profit social enterprise championed by The Children’s Society, might interest you. Giveacar offers a free and environmentally-friendly way to get rid of old vehicles to help raise funds to support The Children’s Society’s work improving the lives of vulnerable children and young people across the country. By promoting the partnership across the next six months, Giveacar hopes The Children’s Society will see generous donations through this unique scheme to aid its vital work. Out of the 22,000 vehicles recycled 83 have been Land Rovers dating from 1983 to 2005, and the scheme has raised more than £2…

JAGUAR LAND Rover’s latest research into autonomous driving uses surface identification and 3D path sensing, which will enable a car to drive itself over any terrain. Combining camera, ultrasonic, radar and LIDAR sensors to give the car a 360 degree view of the world around it, the car can determine surface characteristics, down to the width of a tyre, even in rain and snow, to plan its route. In addition Overhead Clearance Assist will scan ahead for overhead obstructions, so with the car’s height programmed into the system, it will warn the driver if there is insufficient clearance, while Terrain-based Speed Adaption uses cameras to sense uneven surfaces and then predict the potential impact on the car’s ride so that it can automatically adjust speed to keep passengers comfy. Another…

AFTER 11 years travelling the world with the Royal Navy, Norman Seddon decided he hadn’t quite seen enough of it - so he spent two-and-half years with his late wife, Barbara, driving around Australia and North and South America. Not satisfied with the 220,000 miles to date, Norman, now 75, embarked on a second round-the-world trip last month, with his 16-year-old grandson. The Defender’s living accommodation was fitted in Germany, while mechanical work and modifications, such as extra fuel tanks and an automatic gearbox was completed by JE MotorWorks. Norman anticipates the trip will take three years and cover around 100,000 miles. We can’t wait to hear his tales.…