Land Rover has published a series of videos showing the 2017 Range Rover Sport being driven at speeds up to 96 mph, down the world famous “Inferno” downhill ski race track on the Schilthorn, a mountain in the village of Murren, Switzerland.

Dr. Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover finally has something of substance to say about the long-awaited Defender replacement. “Its sensational.”

The new Defender’s development has so far taken place in almost complete secrecy. There has been so little information coming from Solihull that many wondered if the company had anything substantial in the works. Now, Speth has finally come forward and thrown out a few morsels of information.

Layoffs at JLR. News outlets in the UK’s Midlands report that JLR is discontinuing the contracts of over 250 employees at the firm’s flagship manufacturing facility in Solihull.

Some of the employees claim that they didn’t see the move coming; they assumed they’d be transferred instead to a different section of the factory. The employees in question were brought on to assist with the production requirements surrounding the launch of the new Discovery model. Now that phase is over, and JLR is moving the overhire staff along.

Tata Sons, the holding company for JLR parent company, Tata Motors, has ousted its CEO, Cyrus Mistry. Temporarily taking the reins will be Tata family insider, and former CEO Ratan Tata.

As part of the UK Autodrive project, Jaguar Land Rover showcased its latest Connected and Autonomous Vehicle technologies at the Midlands, UK HORIBA MIRA Technology Park earlier this month.

In conjunction with Ford and Tata Motors, Jaguar Land Rover is working to test connected technologies that will allow cars to communicate with each other as well as the traffic lights and other roadside infrastructure.

Cue up the ongoing saga that started with ever-increasing thefts of Defender doors, bonnets, and other parts, leading up to the theft of same from a police defender parked at a police station in Leicestershire back in August. In this latest incident, vandals in West Yorkshire have painted an entire police 110 in metallic silver, including the windows and front screen.

Many Land Rover enthusiasts on the East Coast of the US have either heard of, or attended, the Mid-Atlantic Rallye (MAR) hosted by one of the oldest clubs in the region, the Rover Owners Association of Virginia. The MAR traditionally takes place on the first weekend that begins or ends in October. Which often seems to coincide with the US Southeast hurricane season. Leading to an alternative interpretation of “MAR”… “Mud and Rain.”

Land Rover has just announced the opening of its Reborn Tour, where visitors can observe the earliest Land Rovers undergoing the restoration process. The Series Ones are being rebuilt by Land Rover’s Classic Workshop. A select few expert technicians are employed there to carry out careful, historical accurate restorations that bring the Series One vehicles back to their original states, or as close to that as possible.

Here at blog headquarters, we're currently prepping our Tdi 90 for a trip down to this year's Mid Atlantic Rallye, hosted by the Rover Owners Association of Virginia this weekend. It's one of the best events of the year, and we'll be taking plenty of photos. Keep your eyes peeled for a feature article in the next few weeks.

So, as much as we love researching and scouring the press for interesting tidbits from Land Rover-dom, we have to get packing. So, loyal readers, I leave you with a smorgasbord of videos and promos launched in recent days and weeks promoting the all-new Land Rover Discovery 5.

Earlier this year, I was fortunate enough to spend a few hours chatting with Alistair Banks, owner of Richards Chassis in the UK, and tour their manufacturing site located in Mexborough, UK. Richards Chassis manufacture brand new, galvanized chassis for almost any Land Rover Series, Defender 90, 110 or specialty Defender, and are the manufacturer of the quality chassis we offer here at Atlantic British. Alistair, a 30-year veteran of the Land Rover trade, is co-owner of the firm along with his brother, Duncan. The company has grown considerably since the two acquired the company over a decade ago. There is no sign of slowing either, and they are now running two shifts in order to meet demand.

September 28th, 2016. Today, Land Rover has officially revealed the latest Discovery model on the eve of the Paris Motor Show. For the first time, they are showing it up close and personal, with all of its camouflage wrapping removed, and have issued an onslaught of press releases and web pages detailing the major features of the model.

It’s possible that zipping sideways at high speed around an icy recreation of the Silverstone Raceway in a late-model, 400-plus horsepower supercharged Range Rover isn’t your thing. Though, if it isn’t, you should seriously reconsider that position. Until that time, there is now another option for those who want to relive the winter-parking lot antics of their misspent youth, but prefer to do it in a vehicle that was built while your parents were still in elementary school.

The growing epidemic of Defender theft in the UK has just taken a somewhat humorous turn. UK news sources report that brazen thieves made off with the doors and bonnet off a marked police Defender that was parked right outside a police station.

Sure, criminals have been ripping off body panels from late model Defenders for a number of years now. The rate of those thefts has increased dramatically since the end of Defender production earlier this year. So that part is nothing new. This may be the first news report of panels being taken from a law enforcement vehicle in that manner.

UK news sources are reporting that JLR is leading a research team that is working on developing a new 8 speed automatic transmission. The innovative new design intends to combine dual-clutch, hybrid and low-range elements all in one box.

Just in case you thought Land Rover's flagship model could not be made even more luxurious and powerful, or offer a greater sense of exclusivity to its owners, I give you the newest entrant into the Range Rover lineup. The 2017 full-size Range Rover SVAutobiography Dynamic. This new variant of the latest Range Rover body style will go on sale in fall of 2016 for the 2017 model year. It offers the same blistering performance as its now brash-appearing little brother, the Range Rover Sport SVR.