Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. News

Adventurers, equestrians, and sailing team helped launch the Land Rover Discovery

Bruce Brown
By
If you laid 5,805,846 Lego bricks end-to-end, they’d stretch from London’s Tower Bridge to Paris, a distance of almost 200 miles. Or, if you wanted to make a big statement, you could use those bricks to set a Guinness World Record for the world’s largest Lego structure. That’s what Land Rover did this week with the live reveal of the new Land Rover Discovery SUV in Warwickshire, England, according to a company press release.
Recommended Videos

We’ve already covered the details of the Discovery’s fifth and most significant ever makeover, but the spectacle of its unveiling was newsworthy itself. Complete with a rappelling adventurer, jumping horses, and a sailing team driving through almost three feet of water, the Land Rover launch team stressed the Discovery’s air of adventure, versatility, and excitement. It was all on, over, through, and around the 42.6-foot-high Lego version of the London Tower Bridge, representing the Land Rover theme of going “Above and Beyond.”

Related

Land Rover featured long-term Discovery owners Bear Grylls, Ben Ainslie, and Zara Phillips in the spectacle. Grylls rappelled from the top of the bridge tower, through the open drawbridge onto a stage with the new Discovery. Equestrian Phillips jumped a horse through a picnic scene in front of the bridge. Ainslie drove his sailing team through 35-inch-deep water under the bridge, demonstrating the Discovery’s seven-person capacity, its water fording, and towing capability. It towed a 186,500-Lego-brick model of the Land Rover BAR boat the team will race in next year’s America’s Cup.

The Lego tower project took a team of Lego Master Builders five months to build. The team was led by the United Kingdom’s only Lego-certified professional, Duncan Titmarsh. The team also built the replica of the Land Rover BAR boat.

Lego U.K. and Ireland spokesperson Emma Owen said, “We are thrilled that Jaguar Land Rover has used Lego bricks to add some Guinness World Record-breaking creativity to the launch of the latest Discovery. This is an epic, outstanding build that absolutely captures the imagination in a way we haven’t seen before.  With LEGO bricks and some imagination you really can build anything!”

The London Tower Bridge’s 5,805,846 Lego bricks topped the previous Guinness World Record holder by 470,646 bricks.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown
Contributing Editor
Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…
Watch the Red Cross put the new Land Rover Defender to the test in Dubai
new land rover defender tested by red cross in dubai desert prototype

New Land Rover DEFENDER– Red Cross Desert Testing

Land Rover is doing things differently for the launch of its new Defender. The highly anticipated off-roader will make its public debut later this year, but in the meantime Land Rover is giving camouflaged prototypes to organizations that can make use of the Defender's off-road capabilities. The Defender has already been tested with a wildlife preservation group in Africa, and now Land Rover has revealed that the vehicle spent some time in Dubai with the Red Cross.

Read more
Jaguar Land Rover built an A.I.-equipped car that responds to the driver’s mood
jaguar land rover ai car responds to driver moods mood detection system

Driving can often be one of the most stressful parts of a day, but what if your car could help you relax? Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) hopes to use artificial intelligence (A.I.) to make that happen. The British automaker is testing a system that can adjust cabin settings to help de-stress drivers. JLR also believes this technology could be useful in self-driving cars.

The experimental system uses a driver-facing camera and special software that analyzes facial expressions to determine the driver's mood. The system can automatically adjust things like climate control and ambient lighting to create a more soothing environment. It could also lower the cabin temperature if the driver yawns or shows other signs of tiredness, according to JLR, or even select a certain playlist to suit the driver's mood.

Read more
BMW and Jaguar-Land Rover set aside their differences to develop new EVs
BMW Concept iX3

Rivals BMW and Jaguar-Land Rover announced they're joining forces to offset the high costs of developing components for electric cars. The two companies will form a jointly operated team of researchers to take BMW-developed technology to the next level during the 2020s. The project will be based near BMW's headquarters in Munich, Germany.

The two companies will focus on developing electric motors. They are both bringing a tremendous amount of experience to the table, but they'll start their collaboration with technology developed by BMW. The central component of the partnership is a unit that encompasses the electric motor, the transmission, and the electronics needed to make it work into a single unit. BMW noted the motor doesn't use rare-earth elements.

Read more