Some interesting tidbits from the world of Land Rover this month. JLR CEO, Ralf Speth, announced a few weeks ago that by 2020, all JLR offerings will be available with either a fully electric or hybrid drive. It isn’t exactly clear what that means. Will non-electric versions still be offered? By my read, they will be. The web forums and facebook groups are all abuzz with the thought that {{shudder}} such a mandate would most likely include the new, yet to be revealed, Defender.

If you are unsatisfied with the depth of mud-holes your Series Land Rover can drive through and would like it to be even less comfortable on pavement, then we have just the vehicle for you!

A rare Cuthbertson-conversion tracked 109 is going to be up on the auction block this weekend in the UK. This unstoppable beast of a contraption is expected to sell for no less than 50,000 quid when the hammer falls at Bonhams Auctions.

Each year in August, a group of Canadian and American Land Rover owners gather for the week-long event known as Événement Pierre Gauthier, or EPG. EPG was started in 2001 as a family event with a focus on camping, off roading, families, fun and more off-roading. From its inception, EPG has alternated between different places in Quebec and New Brunswick, but last year moved to central Ontario as a change of pace. The event uses a base camp, generally a public campsite with facilities, from which groups can make day trips out into the surrounding countryside. A history of all of the places they have visited and toured would make for a lengthy article.

If I claimed anything even remotely approaching journalistic integrity, I wouldn’t write anything about the new Defender until JLR gives us something even remotely newsworthy. Alas, I have deadlines, and you, dear readers, ravenously crave each microscopic tidbit of information on the Defender replacement, no matter how infinitesimally small, insignificant, or flat-out inaccurate it may be. You see what I did there? I just put it all on you. When you read this article, remember that I am providing this information to satisfy your obsession with new Defender. It has nothing to do at all with me, no sir, no ma’am. I wait patiently for the real news to come. Whenever that is.

On the first full weekend in August, new and old friends once more converged upon the New Jersey farm of Ben Smith and Christina Albrecht for the sixteenth annual “Blacker Than Night” Land Rover gathering.

Say what? Jaguar Land Rover, apparently following a recently developing trend, is offering a high tech cloth option instead of leather for the interior of its Velar models. The move is designed to appeal to the sensibilities of the Velar’s younger target demographic, who are perceived as being more sensitive to animal welfare issues. We concur.

Some Things Never Change Dept: It was 25 years ago, but I can recall as if it was yesterday. Not long after I acquired my first Land Rover, a 1972 Series III 88”, I was rounding a left-hand turn in my Northwest Washington DC neighborhood when the passenger side door flew open without warning. At the same time, some cassette tapes (dating myself, ok fine) went sliding across the seat and out the open door, clattering unceremoniously onto the pavement.

I hadn’t owned the vehicle long at that point, but I’d owned it long enough that I wasn’t really surprised.

Over the last weekend in July the ‘On The Road’ Discovery 2 and I headed to a most interesting event: The “Muddy Chef Challenge” in very scenic Manchester, Vermont. “Muddy Chef” began in 2008 in nearby Stowe, Vermont. A group of friends had a “crazy” idea that off-roading could be combined with a vehicle-based gourmet cooking challenge.

The 4x4 enthusiast world is all abuzz (no pun intended) this week with the announcement of the Bollinger B1, an all-electric off-roader designed with a utilitarian flair that seems to take some design cues from the lines of Land Rover Series and Defender vehicles. The boxy shape with flat panelwork and sparse detailing are enough to make one think that the resemblance may not be incidental.

Road and Track has been kind enough to publish a photo gallery of JLR’s Classic Collection. The collection consists of over 600 vehicles, many of which were obtained in 2014 in one single purchase totaling $170 million.

An upside-down Land Rover has emerged on a Cornwall, UK beach. A number of UK news outlets have reported the story and shared some incredible photos. The Land Rover belonged to a local resident, who lost it on the beach 30 years ago.

The photos show the green, algae-covered wheels, axles, and chassis of the old Land Rover, eerily appearing from beneath the sand.

This month we bring you a story of true dedication and the bond between a young man and his faithful steed. In this version of that classic tale, the steed is a 1990 Range Rover Classic, and the young man is one Patrick Turbett, from Penfield, New York.

In March of 2015, Patrick and his wife Jacque embarked on a full-body makeover of Patrick’s Range Rover. The infamous frozen road salt margarita mix of New York winters had taken its toll, and most of the metal connecting the body to the frame had completely disintegrated.

A quick update on the INEOS 4x4, announced earlier this year by Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire chairman and founder of INEOS, a giant chemical company based in the UK. The company says that it is beginning its search for a manufacturing site. Ratcliffe, a supporter of the UK Brexit, said that he would not rule out building the vehicles outside of the UK. The company would like to build the vehicles in the UK but also said, “our hearts cannot be allowed to rule our heads”.

The INEOS 4x4 will be built by INEOS Automotive. Ratcliffe is a big fan of the Defender, and now famously offered to buy the rights to build his own Defenders in order to keep the iconic vehicle alive.

According to UK news sources, warranty provider Warranty Direct looked at cars typically just out of their manufacturer's original warranty and revealed that Land Rover 4x4s had the highest number of authorized claims for vehicles of this age. Four-year-old Land Rover models have more warranty claims than those from any other company with the classic Defender accounting for nearly one in three of them.

The blokes from the UK’s “Top Gear” had a chance to brush up on their Land Rover-ese recently, as they combined a review of the new Range Rover “Velar” with some time behind the wheel of the original vehicle that inspired that name. Nothing less than a preproduction Range Rover Classic, all of which were also code-named Velar.