Here at Off Road Wales Limited we have driven and tested many 4x4 vehicles but time and again we always reach the same conclusion; "nothing does the job quite like a Land Rover".

The end result is that we only use Land Rovers for our All Terrain Leisure Pursuits (ATLP). Although, from time to time other off road enthusiasts will tag on to our trips using a variety of 4x4 marques.

We have a selection of Land Rover 90's fitted with either the standard diesel, turbo diesel or Tdi engines not to mention the awesome TD5 engine.

We also use a selection of Land Rover Discovery vehicles fitted with either the 300 or TD5 engines.

	Defender		Discovery

Driving a Discovery and indeed the Defender TD5 can be described as modern driving, but don't let that fool you. These modern vehicles will do the job of their ancestors and still come back for more, only with a bit more comfort.

So where did it all begin? Well, the Land Rover was designed in 1947 as a post-war temporary stopgap measure for the export-hungry Rover Company. The creators of the Land Rover were Spencer Wilks, then managing director of Rover, and his brother, Maurice, then engineering director.

The first Land Rover prototype was built in the summer of 1947, and all the early prototypes had a tractor-like centrally mounted steering wheel. This was done to save money building separate left or right-hand drive models for export. The Land Rover was designed as a civilian replacement for the US Jeep, manufactured by Willys-Overland and Ford.

Steel was still strictly rationed after the war, and as a consequence all Land Rovers were (and Defenders still are) built with aluminium body panels. This is one reason why the older generation Land Rovers and the ever-popular Defender models still hold their value because the body panels themselves are not prone to corrosion.

The Land Rover range has improved and expanded over the years to meet both civilian and military demands. The last 35 years have seen many product launches, starting with the Range Rover in 1970 and the Discovery 1 in 1989. These models have been revamped over the years culminating (at the time of going to press) with the Discovery III in 2004 and the new Range Rover Sport.

Improvements and expansion of the Defender range, with the Tdi and then Td5 engine has made this once very agricultural type vehicle the envy of many.

Land Rover was sold around 2000 by the then owners BMW to its present owners Ford and now forms part of the Premier Automotive Group (PAG), joining Aston Martin, Jaguar, Lincoln and Volvo.

The home of the Land Rover remains the same at the Lode Lane factory in Solihull where the first Land Rovers were produced over 50 years ago with separate production lines now handling the Range Rover, Discovery, Defender and Freelander.

	Freelander		Range Rover