Land Rover completes 65 years today, the 30th of April 2013 and the company is marking the occasion with a celebratory event at Packington Estate near their homeland at Solihull.
A member of the ‘Black Cats’ Royal Navy display team, famous for their skilled air displays, will deliver a ‘HUE’ birthday cake in a Lynx helicopter. ‘HUE 166’ was the very first Series I Land Rover, nicknamed ‘Huey’, and will occupy pride of place at the event.
Packington Estate served as the testing ground for the original 1947-48 Land Rover prototypes through to Range Rover development vehicles from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Nearly 150 heritage Land Rovers will attend the event and will showcase key milestones in the history of the brand as well as world firsts in 4×4 technology including adjustable air suspension, hill descent control, terrain response, anti-lock brakes, electronic traction control, and stop/start. These vehicles will also demonstrate Land Rover’s multifarious capabilities, spanning ploughing, emergency service, military, expedition, royal and concept vehicles. Along with these, the company will also display the current Land Rover line-up including the Defender, the Discovery, the Freelander, the new Range Rover, the new Range Rover Sport, and the Range Rover Evoque, as well as new technological innovations such as the new Electric Defender research vehicle and the world’s first nine-speed transmission in a passenger car.
In India, Land Rover’s celebrations will include the launch of the ‘Land Rover Experience’ customer events throughout India, wherein customers can experience the off-roading and all-terrain capabilities of Land Rover vehicles. The first event in the series kicks off on 3rd May at Amby Valley in Lonavla near Mumbai.
Speaking about the occasion, John Edwards, Land Rover’s Global Brand Director, said that this was an occasion for dual celebrations as the company delivered its best-ever monthly and quarterly sales performance in March 2013. He mentioned that the new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport were the offsprings of the effort to produce the world’s first SUV using a lightweight aluminum body structure, with unprecedented investments in technology, engineering and manufacturing. The company plans to continue its investments in innovation to develop class-first technology and motoring solutions while maintaining the wide capabilities that Land Rover is known for.
