Untamed: Adventures Begin Where the Road Ends

There are Land Rovers that have crossed continents, tackled deserts and disappeared into jungles. There are others that spend their weekends hauling camping gear to a remote trailhead, taking the family to the coast or finding a muddy lane that wasn't on the original route. Both are using the vehicle for much the same reason.

Land Rover's history is full of journeys that looked slightly unreasonable when they started. In 1955, six students set off from London in two Series I Land Rovers, aiming to drive to Singapore. They covered around 18,000 miles through some of the world's most difficult terrain.

A couple of decades later, two Range Rovers were sent from Alaska towards Tierra del Fuego as part of the British Trans-Americas Expedition. The route included the Darién Gap - dense jungle, swamps, rivers and almost no road to speak of. The Range Rovers broke differentials repeatedly in the worst of it, but the expedition eventually made the crossing.

Then there was the Camel Trophy. From 1981 onwards, Land Rovers were pushed through places including the Amazon, Borneo, Siberia and Tanzania. It became less about simply getting from A to B and more about navigation, mechanical skill, endurance and helping the other vehicles when things went wrong.

Those are the stories that tend to define Land Rover adventure. But they're not the only ones worth telling.

Your adventure doesn't need to make the history books

For most owners, adventure starts considerably closer to home. It might be loading a Series II with camping gear and heading for the hills for the weekend. Taking a Defender down a beach track you've never driven before. Finding an old green lane, following it for another mile and discovering where it comes out. Driving through the Highlands with no particular destination beyond the next good view.

A Discovery can turn a family camping trip into a weekend away from the usual campsites. A Range Rover can take the long way across the country simply because the road looks interesting. A Defender can spend Saturday moving firewood, Sunday exploring a trail and Monday going to work. The scale changes. The idea doesn't.

Land Rovers were built around the possibility of going further

That goes back to the original design. Lightweight aluminium bodywork, short overhangs and selectable four-wheel drive gave the Series I an unusual ability to deal with terrain that ordinary cars simply weren't designed for. Within its first decade, around 70% of production was being exported to 150 countries. But capability is only half the story. The other half is what owners choose to do with it.

That's why a 1950s Series I crossing Asia and a 30-year-old Discovery taking the family somewhere remote can sit comfortably in the same story. One is an expedition. The other might simply be a weekend that went better than expected.

What will you do with yours?

The next adventure doesn't have to be planned for months. It might be a road trip across the country, a weekend in the mountains or simply taking the Defender somewhere you've never taken it before.