Snow stunt starts Land Rover celebrations

Land Rover has kicked off its 70th anniversary year with a spectacular 250m wide Defender outline drawn in the snow at 2,700m in the French Alps.

Snow artist Simon Beck walked out 20,894 steps (10.2 miles) in sub-zero temperatures to create the work – a tribute to the first sketch of the original Land Rover shape in the sand of Red Wharf Bay, Anglesey, in the UK.

“Making my snow art requires endurance, accuracy and strength – all attributes shared with the Defender,” explained Simon. “Its iconic shape is so simple and recognised across the world; this must be the most recognisable piece of art I’ve ever made.”

The one-off snow art was created to announce World Land Rover Day on April 30, exactly 70 years since the first Land Rover caused a sensation at the 1948 Amsterdam Motor Show.

Jaguar Land Rover CEO, Prof Dr Ralf Speth, said: “Land Rover is an iconic brand around the world and the outline of the Defender is instantly recognisable.

“To reach the landmark of 70 years is truly special and we will mark it with a year of celebrations that represents Land Rover’s ‘Above and Beyond’ spirit and honours the people behind the world’s favourite SUVs.”

Land Rover timeline

1948 Land Rover Series I launched at the Amsterdam Motor Show

1953 Long Wheelbase version of the Series I is introduced

1956 Oxford and Cambridge teams complete on London to Singapore expedition in Series I

1958 Land Rover Series II unveiled with more refined design

1970 Original two-door Range Rover (the Classic) goes on sale

1971 Land Rover Series III launched

1972 Range Rover crosses Darien Gap on 18,000-mile Trans-America expedition

1976 1,000,000th Land Rover built

1979 A Range Rover wins the inaugural Paris-Dakar rally (and again in 1981)

1981 Land Rover begins legendary partnership with Camel Trophy

1981 Four-door Range Rover released

1989 Land Rover Discovery, the third Land Rover model, goes on sale

1990 Original ‘Landie’ relaunched and renamed Defender

1994 Second generation Range Rover launched

1997 All-new Freelander is unveiled with innovative new technology: Hill Descent Control

2001 Third-generation Range Rover with all-round independent air suspension revealed

2003 Inaugural G4 challenge sees 16 teams traverse USA, South Africa and Australia

2004 Range Stormer Concept previews performance Range Rover and three-door body

2004 Discovery 3/LR3, the third-generation Discovery, launched at New York Motor Show

2005 All-new Range Rover Sport unveiled

2006 Freelander 2/LR2 launched. The first Land Rover to be manufactured at Halewood

2007 LRX concept car previews design language of a new luxury compact SUV

2009 Fourth generation of the Land Rover Discovery introduced

2010 Range Rover Evoque, the world’s first luxury compact SUV, makes global debut

2012 Fourth-generation Range Rover introduced – the first all-aluminium SUV

2013 New generation of Range Rover Sport unveiled at New York Motor Show

2014 Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division is officially launched

2014 Range Rover Sport SVR debuts, the fastest, most agile, most powerful Land Rover

2014 Discovery Vision Concept previews design vision for new family of Discovery vehicles

2014 Launch of Discovery Sport, a new premium compact SUV with 5+2 seating

2015 Trio of end-of-line Defender editions revealed with biggest sand drawing in UK

2015 Exclusive Range Rover SVAutobiography long wheelbase launched in New York

2015 Evoque Convertible becomes world’s first luxury compact SUV convertible

2015 One-of-a-kind Land Rover ‘Defender 2,000,000’ sells for £400,000 at charity auction

2016 Last Defender rolls off the production line

2016 All-new Discovery with world-first remote Intelligent Seat Fold technology launched

2017 Land Rover launches the fourth Range Rover, the Velar

2018 Limited Edition Range Rover SV Coupé debuts at Geneva Motor Show