A new book has been published in time for Christmas featuring all things Land Rover.

The book includes, in one volume, everything there is to know about Land Rovers and Range Rovers, from the first prototypes of 1947, right up to the all-new Freelander 2 which goes on sale in December.

There are hundreds of books available on Land Rover, but none to date have the wealth of readily accessible, accurate and up-to-date information of the Land Rover File.

by David Morgan

The new Freelander is not the only new Land Rover to arrive this month. The Range Rover Sport TDV8 is also here, with a 3.6 litre turbodiesel delivering 272bhp and massive torque of 472lb/ft at 2000rpm.

I drove this £53,120 newcomer at the Freelander launch. Performance is effortless - rest to 62mph takes just 8.5 seconds - with a subtle V8 burble from its 3630cc heart. But for all that the lightweight Brazilian-made block supports a high-efficiency unit which will average 25mpg.

There is nothing retiring about Land Rover even on the eve of its 60th birthday.

We are about to witness the iconic 4×4 manufacturer rediscover itself with the new Land Rover Freelander 2.

Retaining the all-round 4×4 abilities of the brand and borrowing design elements from its super successful Range Rover, Discovery and original Freelander, the new model is going to become Britain’s best-selling 4×4 by a long way.

Instead of heading for a retirement home it’s coming out of a radically revised manufacturing plant at Halewood, which also makes the Jaguar X-Type.

It doesn’t happen often, I grant you, but just occasionally an idea will pop into my head a little while before someone with more money, courage, talent and vision than me actually makes it happen.
The rain-sensing windscreen wiper and the self-dimming interior mirror are good examples. I wrote about them, and they happened. Just remember that you read about auto-dip headlights here first.

My one big idea that the motor industry has failed to take up relates to the type of engine to use in large heavy off-roaders. Traditionally there have been two approaches to this, both wholly unsatisfactory.

By Jeff Johnston of FourWheeler.com

Sagebrush, cactus, swirling alkali dust, and the wind whistling across a barren prairie are not the first images that normally come to mind when thinking about the Oregon backcountry. Make no mistake, there’s plenty of green beauty in the northwest, but once you’re east of the Cascades, much of Oregon starts looking a lot more like the location for a John Ford western.
Variety is one factor that makes Oregon such a darn nice place to be, and that’s one of the reasons the state is so popular with 4×4 owners. For a group of Land Rover-brand owners and a few others, central Oregon was a great place to explore during a recent club run. The trip was an annual affair hosted by the Pacific Coast Rover Club, a group that boasts more than 200 members. The group has members throughout the northwest and British Columbia, most of them driving all kinds of Land Rovers and Range Rovers.

Thank goodness Land Rover still makes proper 4×4s, not fashion accessories. John Simister has no trouble defeating the fearsome Solihull test track.

Specifications

Price: from £20,935 On sale December
Engine: 2,179cc, four cylinders, 16 valves, turbo-diesel; 160bhp at 4,000rpm, 295lb ft at 2,000rpm
Transmission: six-speed gearbox, four-wheel drive
Performance: 112mph, 0-60mph in 10.9 seconds, 37.7mpg official average
CO2: 194g/km

Tough, but not too tough. That was the design philosophy behind Land Rover’s all-new Freelander - and it’s a sensible approach in today’s 4×4-sceptical world.