Land Rover operates four off-road driving schools in North America?in Asheville, North Carolina; Carmel, California; Manchester, Vermont; and Montebello, Quebec. Each affords opportunities to drive unpaved terrain ranging from moderately difficult to creepy-crawly. The schools are a profitable enterprise that also serves a bigger purpose: selling new vehicles. Participants can use their personal vehicles or pilot a new Land Rover or Range Rover from the school fleets, but this year the parent company put a little spin on the programs, adding vintage Land Rover Defenders to the school inventories.
The idea came from Kim McCullough, Jaguar Land Rover vice president of marketing for North America, a serious enthusiast whose résumé includes participation in Italy?s Mille Miglia revival in a personal Jaguar XK120. She saw this Defender Experience program as a way to help promote Land Rover?s impending 70th anniversary in 2018.
?Since it is the 70th anniversary, we want to help keep it alive,? said McCullough. ?We thought, let?s put it out there and build some awareness.? And, of course, with a new Defender anticipated in the not-too-distant future, there?s more to the awareness aspect than touting Land Rover’s history.
Active Heritage
These Defenders are definitely not new vehicles. The Defender 90s and 110s are parceled out, one per school, for what is called the Land Rover Heritage Program. The numerical designations relate to their 90- and 110-inch wheelbases. The p...