Two weekends ago, the Ottawa Valley Land Rover (OVLR) club held its 34th Annual Birthday Party event. This is OVLR’s largest annual event and normally falls on the third weekend in June. The event is near the town of Maberly, in Southeastern Ontario about 90 minutes North of the U.S. border.

More news reports from around the internet regarding our favorite automaker... And Jaguar, too.

The Jaguar Land Rover Classic division has proven so popular that its operations have now expanded into their own facility. The newly designated Classic Works site is located in Coventry, the ancestral home of both brands.

At 150,000 square feet in size, the facility is one of the largest of its type anywhere in the world. It contains a showroom, a 54-bay workshop, and storage for vehicles and their component parts. All the more room to store the over 500 classic vehicles the classic division recently acquired.

Starting in September, JLR will offer scheduled tours of the new facility. Speaking from experience with other Land Rover tours, a trip through this facility combined with a Land Rover Experience off road drive would be a lovely way to spend a rainy afternoon in the UK.

Atlantic British is proud to offer a range of transmission service kits for owners of Land Rover LR3, LR4, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover Full Size vehicles. Modern automatic transmissions require careful scheduled maintenance, and the ones on these vehicles are no different. The costs and headaches involved in changing a failed transmission can be downright eye-watering. Therefore it goes without saying that owner should see scheduled fluid and filter changes as a necessary procedure to ensure a long service life.

Click through to our video, where our Doug, our Master Technician, explains the ins-and-outs of performing this work, all while demonstrating by carrying out the repair on one of our vehicles.

Welcome to 'Profiles in "Courage,”' a new feature here on the Roverlog. In this series of articles, we seek to recognize individuals who have aimed for the stars in pursuit of their Land Rover ownership experience. Regardless of whether a project is still just a twinkle in one's wallet, a fully realized going (and stopping) concern, or an utter failure to be kept secret from your mates, those stories need to be told.

I use the word "courage," because while your friends and family members may (don't worry, they do) think you are a wrench-wielding, environment-destroying, garage-locked Neanderthal, in your Land Rover's eyes, you are a Hero. Maybe even a Superhero. The day you handed over a cashier's check or stack of Benjamins for that algae-covered, flat-tired hulking pile of aluminum with a chassis and firewall doing their best Swiss Cheese impersonation, you revealed your true nature. You were either brave or stupid. Nobody wants to be stupid, so let's go with brave.

I'll start with my own story, and some thoughts about why Land Rovers captivate the imaginations of so many, and to such extent. And, why I'm so stupid. I mean, brave. Right then.

As all of our loyal readers will know, our Inside sales team leader, Eric “extension 231” Riston can only sit at his desk and take calls for so long. Every year, as the snow starts to melt and white gives way to green, signaling the imminent end to the infamous, Land Rover-eating Albany road-salt season, Eric begins to develop a twitch. If left unaddressed, it may cause him to enter a catatonic state, making him useless on the phones. The only thing that can cure this condition is the rumble of a healthy Land Rover V8 engine, and the promise of an open stretch of highway, either the blacktop kind or the “Vermont divided” kind.

With that out of the way, we bring you to the first 2017 installment of “On the Road” with Atlantic British. Take it away, Eric.

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With Memorial Day upon us, and the summer rally season fast approaching, it was time to pull the 'On the Road' Discovery 2 out of its winter slumber and give it a good shakedown run.

Two big North American Land Rover events of note will occur this summer, for those who are interested in meeting like-minded enthusiasts and owners, or who would like to take their vehicle off-roading. Trails usually cover a variety of terrain with a choice of difficulty level. Most events of this type offer camping for those who prefer it, and lodging options for those who prefer fresh sheets and a private bath before hitting the trails.

Your Land Rover news round-up for June - some interesting items to note.

We still have not seen or heard anything useful regarding the highly secretive replacement for the discontinued Land Rover Defender. Some of the major UK automotive blogs continue to post up the same concept images that pop up every few months whenever there is some tiny morsel of speculation in the press. Those are always followed on the forums and Facebook groups by a new wave of comments from the late-comers who somehow haven’t seen the pictures before. I will spare your eyes and not report the images here. With Land Rover vehicles' reputations for leaking, it's surprising nothing's dribbled out yet.

Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralf Speth says that the automaker will continue to promote modern diesel technology, citing its widespread use in commercial vehicles as one of several factors in consideration.

Additionally, Speth says “The latest diesel technology is really such a step in emissions, performance, particulates; it’s better for the environment when compared to [an equivalent] petrol. Diesel has to -- needs to -- have a future.”

If you are a fan of diesel engines in North America, you’ve probably had the feeling that the auto industry here just “isn’t that into you.” There is a long-held belief that automakers don’t bring diesel vehicles to market here in large numbers, because they just aren’t popular, or any one of a number of reasons. There is a folklore of failed attempts to introduce diesel vehicles here, for example the early Olds V8 diesels, and an overall impression that the oil burners are dirty, smelly, and noisy, and will rattle the fillings right out of your teeth. You can’t even buy diesel on some stretches of toll roads in the US, where the state-controlled service areas don’t even offer it for sale.

American chef, author, and television personality Anthony Bourdain, is known for his best-selling memoir “Kitchen Confidential,” and now host of CNN’s Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. His wry humor and profanity-laced delivery earned him the unofficial title of “culinary bad boy.”

According to Ad Age, “Anthony Bourdain is not a fan of product placements.” In the past, he has lashed out in (also profanity-laced) tweets at his networks for tying his name to ads that he didn’t approve - one particular incident involved US automaker Cadillac. However, Land Rover was able to convince Bourdain to give them a prime product placement as part of its “exclusive launch sponsorship” of a digital extension of the “Parts Unknown" TV series.

Up on the auction block this week, a "Harrods Edition" Range Rover. When it was bought new in 1983, it cost only £38,000 - more than the average UK house at the time. It is now going to be auctioned off – with an expected final sale price of £30,000. I think it could go for more, though I must be a purist because I prefer the stock look over this one.

The four-door Range Rover, Chassis No. SALLHAMV3AA131808, was given a color scheme taken directly from the palette used by renowned London department store retailer, Harrods. It even has 'Harrods Knightsbridge' written on the bonnet. I’m not sure what the North American equivalent would be. I guess Chrysler and Saks could have teamed up with the “Fifth Avenue” branding.

Sadly, it is anything but news that Defenders in the UK are a prime target for theft, with regular reports of entire vehicles disappearing, as well as others being stripped of their valuable and easily removed body panels, such as doors and bonnets.

The latest development in this saga is that a UK-based stolen vehicle recovery firm Tracker has, for the first time, included Defender on its list of top ten stolen and recovered vehicles (published the since 2011). The figures for 2016 put Defender at number 9 on the list, edging out the BMW 5 Series for the dubious honor. The Audi RS4 and Q7 have both dropped off the list, replaced by the Defender and the BMW M3 which is now in the number three spot. The Range Rover Sport and BMW X5 have occupied the top two spots for two years running, with the Sport topping the list in 2015 and the X5 in 2016.

Jaguar Land Rover’s plan to expand its manufacturing operations in the Coventry area of the UK was the subject of high level meetings late least year. Coventry Council members agreed to back the plan, which includes infrastructure improvements to roadways in the surrounding area, and an upgrade of the existing electrical grid to support the needs of the new new facilities. Last week, councillors approved the electrical plans, which include three kilometers of new underground cabling, some of which will cross stretches of public land in the area.

JLR is getting no relief from the continued sale of the Chinese knock-off of the Range Rover Evoque, the “Landwind“ X7. The X7 continues to be produced and sold in fairly significant numbers, despite JLR's best efforts to take Landwind’s parent company, Jiangling Motors to task in the both the media and the courts.

The UK's "Automotive News" caught up with JLR CEO Ralf Speth at the Shanghai Auto show, where Jiangling was showing off four of the X7’s in their display. According to their reporting, Speth indicated his annoyance on the ongoing issue, which began when the X7 was originally unveiled in 2014.

In celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the Range Rover, Land Rover has opened a new visitor experience at the Solihull, UK manufacturing facility, where all of the original Land Rover vehicles were manufactured. While Range Rover production began at Solihull in 1970, the model’s history goes back to the 1967 when the first secret, code named “Velar” prototypes were conceived and then later placed into service.

Earlier this week, JLR reported record sales figures for the 2016/17 fiscal year, another in a long string of successes for the now-flourishing company. Total sales were 604,009 vehicles, including those sold in their joint venture with Chery, a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer.