It has been said, amongst those whose opinions may be biased, that Land Rover doesn’t build “real off roaders” any more. I, for one, beg to differ with that notion. While it is true that we won’t ever likely see a new vehicle from Land Rover or anyone else with the rugged simplicity, ease of maintenance, and straightforward utility offered by the Defender and Series vehicles, Land Rover has shown us over and over again that, despite outward appearances dominated by sweeping lines, low profile tires, and plastic trim, the company has remained dedicated to building vehicles whose off-pavement abilities go beyond those offered “out of the box” by most other manufacturers. Their R&D shops continually seek to create unique features that exist for only one purpose, and that is to get you to and from your destination, regardless of what kind of surface must be traversed along the way. Within reason of course.

Speaking of crushing the competition, Land Rover, hot on the heels of its courtroom success in protecting its Defender model name in an intellectual property suit against adventure-mobile maker Bombardier, Jaguar Land Rover is tightening its grip on other possible model names.

Since Land Rover produced the coach-built Tickford 80” Station Wagons in 1949, there has been a long history of cooperation and sometimes collaboration in producing bespoke versions of their vehicles for those whose tastes run more refined than the average Land Rover customer. In later years, other companies became involved, such as Overfinch, Callaway, and JE Engineering, among others.

Land Rover’s newest Discovery 5 has a pretty large pair (or better yet, two pairs…) of shoes to fill, coming on the well-heeled heels of the outgoing LR4, which itself was one not only well mannered on the road but also, more notably, one of the marques most capable off-roaders to date.

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is undertaking a £200 million redevelopment of its primary design and engineering facility in Gaydon, Warwickshire. JLR has announced that construction has now begun for the expansion project, the first of its kind at a non-manufacturing JLR site for over a decade.

Jaguar Land Rover, in a project designed to coincide with International Women's Day, has partnered with Getty Images to change how women working in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields are portrayed in various media. The project seeks to more accurately and authentically depict female engineers at work.

Presented to the world’s media for the first time March 7^th at the Geneva Motor Show, Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations division debuted a new concept for bespoke Discovery designed to serve search and rescue and disaster recovery teams. The vehicle, dubbed “Project Hero,” provides a pairing that could make a real difference in the wilderness. That's the whole idea behind the project.

Huge snowfalls blanketed the Northeast US during the weeks leading up to this year’s Maine Winter Romp, an event that occurs annually on President’s Day weekend in the vicinity of Waterville, Maine.

The North American Land Rover community has lost one of its pioneers this week. Many long time Land Rover fans will recognize the name of Bill Baker. Bill was enormously influential in the early marketing of Land Rover products in North America, particularly the Range Rover Classic. Richard Truett of Automotive News has penned a fitting obituary, quoted here in its entirety.

Land Rover dealers around the world are gearing up to start selling the new Discovery vehicle in mid 2017. We haven’t even had a chance to fully process how we feel about the redesigned “Disco,” and yet, as if to distract us from that goal, Land Rover has announced yet another addition to the Range Rover family of vehicles. This one is the “Velar,” named after the original factory Range Rover prototypes produced in the late 60’s.

In the latest installment of the ongoing saga of thieves versus Land Rovers, criminals in the UK have made off with two truckloads of engines from Jaguar Land Rover’s Solihull plant. The caper almost sounds as if it were scripted for film.

The value of the stolen goods is estimated at £3 million.

Last year we covered UK billionaire Jim Ratcliffe and his scheme to build Defender look-alike 4x4’s. The founder of giant UK chemicals group Ineos wanted to build Defenders with Auntie Rover’s blessing, but that was not forthcoming. Now some months later, Ratcliffe is back and says he is planning to move forward, if on a slightly different tack.

A new import tax being proposed by the US House of Representatives could hit Land Rover harder than any other automakers. The UK-based firm builds all their US models overseas and uses few, if any, US sourced components. An auto industry study determined that on average, JLR would need to hike the price of its vehicles by $17,000 in order to make up for the additional costs imposed by the border tax.

Just another heads-up for owners of 2007 and newer Range Rovers: Land Rover North America has issued another round of recalls, some of which are for issues related to the massive Takata airbag recall that now covers nearly 40 million cars from multiple manufacturers. As most readers who aren’t living under a rock are probably aware by now, certain Takata airbags have demonstrated the potential to rupture improperly, due to degradation of the propellant in the airbag inflator. Such ruptures can hurl metal shards and fragments in the direction of the vehicle occupants, resulting in serious injury, disfigurement, or death. This expanded Takata recall affects a total of 8,769 Land Rover vehicles that contain Takata airbags in the passenger front seat position.

Land Rover is continually at the forefront of the automotive industry when it comes to embracing new technology and incorporating it into the ownership experience. Now, you can start reaping the benefits of JLR's massive R&D budget before you even lay down your hard earned cash to purchase one of the high-tech off-roaders.

Using Virtual Reality headset technology, JLR hopes to provide customers an entirely new way of looking at upcoming new models or features.