Students in Auto Repair Courses Won’t Believe How Range Rover Celebrated its 45th Birthday!
What did you do for your last birthday? Maybe you threw a party, or just had a quiet celebration with friends and family. One thing’s for sure, you probably didn’t attempt to pull off an elaborate, potentially dangerous driving stunt in Suzhou, China, but that’s exactly how Range Rover marked its 45th anniversary.
Land Rover’s British SUV brand marked its celebrations in dramatic fashion by becoming the first car to drive over a bridge made entirely of paper, which was specially designed by British artist Steve Messam. The bridge’s 16x11ft arch was made of nothing but tightly-packed paper sheets, with no glue or bolts to reinforce the structure.
Jaguar Land Rover Group Engineering Director Nick Rogers credited the SUV’s “advanced lightweight body and peerless all-terrain capability” with making the drive possible. Auto repair students will find the mechanics behind the stunt, as well as the history of the iconic brand, just as remarkable.
Range Rover On Paper: A Brief History For Car Repair Training Students
The world’s first SUV, the Range Rover, originally titled the “100-inch station wagon,” was designed by Charles ‘Spen’ King, and first went on sale in November 1970.Considering its eventual popularity with urban drivers, students taking an auto repair course might be interested to know that King believed driving the SUV “even in towns and cities at all, is completely stupid.”
Despite this, Range Rover’s original model was universally admired, and was even the first car to be displayed at the Louvre Museum in Paris, as an example of ‘exemplary industrial design.’ It was the car used in the first ever successful 29,000km Trans-America drive in 1972, as well as the first 12,000km Sahara Desert expedition in 1974. So it’s no surprise that Land Rover executives chose to mark its anniversary with another record-breaking feat.
The Mechanics Behind The ‘Paper Bridge’ Stunt: An Auto Repair Course Guide
Land Rover chose the paper bridge crossing to highlight the car’s superior all-terrain technology. Driver Chris Zhou navigated the structure using the auto mode of Range Rover’s Terrain Response 2 feature, which optimizes a range of all-terrain capability features.
Students pursuing car repair training will also be impressed by the All-Terrain Progress Control (APTC) feature used in the stunt, which allows drivers to maintain a set speed between 1 and 30km/h on difficult terrain without any pedal input. This technology ensures minimal wheel spin on any surface, and allowed Zhou to focus solely on steering the vehicle.
Check out the full crossing in this video:
Crossing New Terrain: The Future Of Range Rover In Your Auto Repair Career
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Range Rover Vogue used in the crossing, with its all-aluminum body, is the automaker’s lightest model, though it still weighs close to 5,000lbs. However, lighter vehicles aren’t all fans of the brand can expect in the future. Range Rover’s 45th year also sees the launch of the fittingly-named Autobiography, with new tech features like an improved surround camera system and Land Rover’s InControl connectivity technology, which allows drivers to locate, lock, and check fuel levels on their car via an app.
2016 will also see the launch of the Range Rover Sport SVR, the most powerful Land Rover ever. The 542hp, V8-powered SUV has an acceleration of 0-100 in just 4.5 seconds. In typically flamboyant fashion, the company unveiled the model by enlisting polar explorer Chris Saunders to drive it around a full-scale replica of the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit, carved entirely out of the snow in Arjeplog, Sweden, deep inside the Arctic Circle.
You can check out that stunt here:
Once you’ve watched Land Rover’s daring stunts, you’ll likely want to start your own exciting journey by exploring an auto repair career!
Visit ATC to learn more about our training programs or to speak with an advisor.
