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Courtesy JLR
Calamigos Ranch successful the Santa Monica Mountains supra Malibu acceptable a suitably rugged but inviting signifier for the latest Destination Defender: an outdoor gathering of implicit 3,000 loyal ‘Landy’ owners and enthusiasts who spent the play earlier Thanksgiving immersed successful the Defender lifestyle. Expert-led talks, demos, and outdoor activities, including acquisition drives successful the caller high-performance HALO model OCTA, each featured. The play besides marked the 4th annual Defender Service Awards, honoring the brand’s bequest of heroism and six non-profit and charitable organizations from crossed the U.S. and Canada for their services.
The archetypal Destination Defender lawsuit took spot successful New York's Hudson Valley successful 2022, but Malibu marked its West Coast debut with Vice President of Communications Jaguar Land Rover, Stuart Schorr, confirming an unprecedented turnout astatine Calamigos cemented Destination Defender as a biannual lawsuit connected the calendar, with an eastbound seashore mentation planned to instrumentality spot adjacent spring, and a instrumentality to California slated for precocious October.
The Defender Lifestyle
Billed arsenic a "weekend escapade and manner festival celebrating the Defender Community" with the enactment to accepted structure campy or glamp nether the stars (or nab 1 of the rooms and suites wrong Calamigos Ranch), the solemnisation included skateboarding and BMX demos, yoga classes, unrecorded euphony and DJ sets, positive a Spartan obstacle course.
Destination Defender Malibu
Five-time Olympian and a three-time Olympic golden medalist successful half-pipe snowboarding Shawn White and large question surfer Greg Long were successful attendance and held talks successful the Defender Forum wherever moderated panels besides covered topics similar Defender practice and off-roading with competitors from teams Defender supported during this year's Rebelle Rally, the archetypal women's off-road navigation rally raid successful the United States: first-year rookies the Rebelling Rovers, and three-year veterans the Full Sail Dream Team, chatting astir their adventures, trials and takeaways from the competition. Mixology workshops, pizza-making classes, and High West Whiskey tastings rounded retired the taste offerings.
And for those model buying their adjacent vehicle, the Defender Family of models was connected show alongside the caller Defender 110 Sedona Edition whose striking Red Color Pack takes inspiration from the rugged landscapes and terrain of the famed godforsaken municipality with a caller optional hood decal depicting the topography of the mountains there. Upgraded elements connected the constricted variation merchandise (available for 1 twelvemonth only) see 22-inch Gloss Black alloy wheels paired with a body-colored spare instrumentality screen and optional exterior side-mounted cogwheel carrier.
The Vehicles of HM Queen Elizabeth II
A item show astatine Destination Defender was a enactment of 5 vehicles from the idiosyncratic fleet of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Curated by Land Rover Chief Historian Mike Bishop (aka 'Mr. Land Rover') successful concern with the British Motor Museum and the Jaguar Land Rover team, they were selected from a acceptable of 10 historical Land Rover Defender and Range Rover models that graced the amusement tract astatine Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and New York's Rockefeller Center earlier making their mode to California.
Bishop shared the archetypal thought for a traveling collection, the archetypal of its benignant ever shown successful the US, to observe the Queen's bequest and grant the 70th day of her coronation. 'Being royal vehicles, they're exceptionally peculiar but besides archer this unthinkable communicative that illustrates the longstanding narration the royal household enjoyed with Land Rover and highlights their breadth usage from milestone celebrations to driving astir Balmoral,' helium said during a beryllium down with a tiny radical of media connected Saturday afternoon.
Among those chosen for the lawsuit astatine Calamigos Ranch was a 1954 Land Rover Series I State Review conveyance that accompanied Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip connected a six-month circuit of the Commonwealth and a 1990 State Review Range Rover conveyance chosen by the Queen for her 1994 Christmas card, wherever she and the Duke of Edinburgh were pictured attending the 50th Anniversary of D-Day Landings.
Land Rover Chief Historian Mike Bishop talks to attendees
Defender OCTA Drive Experience
New high-performance HALO exemplary OCTA
Speaking of a superb conveyance that tin spell anyplace and bash anything, a timed ride-along successful the OCTA was a Destination Defender play highlight. Our driver, who had antecedently spent implicit a decennary arsenic a trial technologist with Land Rover, was keen to archer the communicative of the car from a driver-engineer position arsenic helium picked his mode astir a bid of trails supra the ranch turning it into our idiosyncratic off-road playground for an hour.
He explained however the MHEV 4.4l twin-turbo 'turns precise well,' and its clever suspension setup (a New 6D Dynamics system) had removed the necessity for rotation bars. They've besides done a bully occupation calibrating the throttle. It doesn't respond to get traction, truthful there's nary momentum needed to get up the hill, helium said, accelerating from zero to goodness knows what up a constrictive way to the acme a chap writer told america was wherever they utilized to movie the TV bid M*A*S*H. 'It's truthful detuned connected the debased extremity you tin truly finesse it successful precocious range,' helium added astatine different constituent during the drive. While Dynamic mode is for your on-road driving days to supply enhanced handling and calibration for astir conditions, OCTA Mode delivers tons of powerfulness connected escaped surfaces, looking for instrumentality rotation and changing calibration to halt them sooner (ABS is simply a detriment astatine high-speed off-road). In Comfort Mode, helium demonstrated however it utilized horsepower to ascent hills without immoderate run-up.
All awesome stuff, but what mightiness the fortunate fewer caller OCTA owners look similar with little than 0.1% of Range Rover owners going off-road? According to our trial driver, the car is truthful susceptible that astir radical who bargain it mightiness not beryllium capable to usage it properly. I presume making it a premier campaigner for an Owner's Day astatine 1 of Land Rover's Experience Centers.
The 2024 Defender Service Awards
2024 Defender Service Awards Presented by CHASE
Defender vehicles have been utilized for humanitarian causes astir the satellite for decades – this year, the marque celebrated its 70th day partnering with the British Red Cross but besides sent vehicles to assistance alleviation efforts successful Asheveille, North Carolina, aft Hurricane Helene – and a item of the play was the announcement ceremonial for the 2024 Defender Service Awards during a solemnisation meal connected Saturday night.
The Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary in Alberta received the Animal, Wildlife and Marine Welfare Award (Disney), portion the Appalachian Wildlife Refuge received the Defender Service Awards Honoree Award. The Station Foundation in Bozeman received the Veteran and Civil Servant Outreach Award (Hearts & Science), and Pine River Institute successful Toronto the Outdoor Accessibility and Education Award (OUTSIDE Inc.) The Community Service Award (ei3) went to Nathaniel’s Hope in Orlando, portion the Search, Rescue and Emergency Support Services Award (PELICAN) went to Linville-Central Rescue Squad, Inc. in Newland, North Carolina. In summation to $25,000 from CHASE, Defender gave each radical finalist a customized Defender 130 to further enactment their missions and communities portion CHASE besides donated $5,000 to each of the six second-place finalists. landroverusa.com.
Defender 110 Sedona Edition
English (US)