Every Land Rover Discovery has a story to tell. To celebrate the Discovery’s 25th anniversary, we’re sharing a few of the extraordinary ones.
Play videoThe Land Rover Discovery was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1989. With its all-terrain capability and distinctive design it set a precedent for all other 4x4s to follow. Although many would struggle to follow Discovery on some of the epic journeys and challenges it has undertaken and conquered in the last 25 years. Here are just a few of them.
Discovery showed its true mettle on the grueling Camel Trophy, where it became the vehicle of choice from 1990 to 1997. In addition to standard features like map-holders, twin-removable sunroof patches and grab handles the vehicles were also equipped with a few optional extras. These included roll-cages, winches, snorkels, auxiliary tanks, bull bars and nav-comm equipment.
The second generation of the Discovery was launched at the Paris Motor Show in 1998. Rather than merely taking the Eurotunnel, Land Rover chose a less straightforward route to Paris. And so began the New Discovery Trek: London to Paris the long way round.
Two pre-production Discoverys, a V8 and a TD5, embarked on a journey that would take them overland across Europe to India via Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. From there they were freighted to Australia, where the two Discoverys crossed the brutally rutted Gunbarrel Highway to Ayes Rock before reaching Sydney.
Two pre-production Discoverys, a V8 and a TD5, embarked on a journey that would take them overland across Europe to India via Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. From there they were freighted to Australia, where the two Discoverys crossed the brutally rutted Gunbarrel Highway to Ayes Rock before reaching Sydney.
The third-generation Discovery was unveiled at the New York International Auto Show. Starting with a blank piece of paper, the designers gave the new Discovery 3 a bold, modern and distinctive look, yet also incorporated many of the key styling elements of its predecessors into their final design. Underneath its newly redesigned body was a raft of groundbreaking technology and features. But what really stole the show was the highly acclaimed Terrain Response® system, which won the Queen’s Awards For Enterprise, the highest honour that can be bestowed on a UK company. Discovery 3 went on to become Land Rover’s most decorated model, picking up over one hundred international awards. It even won the praise of Top Gear’s Richard Hammond who declared it the ‘best 4x4 of all time.’
Rather than resting on their laurels, Land Rover built on the success of the ‘best 4x4 of all time’ with the introduction of the Discovery 4.
The one-millionth Land Rover Discovery rolled off the production line in 2012. To celebrate the milestone and demonstrate its class defining versatility it embarked on the ‘Journey of Discovery – an epic journey from its birthplace in Birmingham to Beijing in China. The 8,000-mile adventure took 50 days and travelled through more than a dozen countries across Europe and Central Asia. In the process, it raised £1 million to support a water sanitation project in Uganda.
Look at the thinking behind the thinking. The philosophy of design that led to the Discovery Vision Concept car.
Two of the greatest adventures on, and off, the planet. See how this surprising yet logical partnership was born.
Explore the concept at the heart of our new family.
Introducing the latest addition to the Discovery family: the all-new 25th anniversary Discovery XXV Special Edition.