Automakers are always trying to come up with expressive ways to launch new vehicles, so when it came time for Land Rover to introduce the 1990 Range Rover, it did so with the 1989 Great Divide Expedition. Over the span of 12 days in 1989, Land Rover took seven Range Rovers on a 1,128-mile road trip along a portion of the Continental Divide.
Land Rover planned a route that snaked along the Divide following as closely as possible while using legal “roads” (about 75 percent of which were unpaved trails), and it used mostly stock Range Rovers. Conservationist and off-road expert Tom Collins led the group across Colorado from the Wyoming border to northern New Mexico; a route that took two years to plan.
As a 25-year celebration, Land Rover will be recreating the 1989 expedition with unmodified versions of the all-new 2014 Range Rover. The new route will travel just 1,000, but it will surely be an exciting adventure across some of the most rugged terrain North America has to offer.
And to commemorate the 1989 Great Divide Expedition and its 2014 counterpart, Land Rover is creating a replica of the 1990 Range Rover used 25 years ago. This vehicle will be auctioned off on eBay with all of the proceeds going to support the off-roading, land-conserving organization Tread Lightly!, which just happened to be founded in the same year that Land Rover’s original expedition took place. The auction kicks off August 4, 2014 and lasts until August 14, 2014, and the best part is that the winning bidder not only gets Range Rover but he or she will also get one of the limited seats that Land Rover has reserved for customers to purchase.
If you have 30 minutes to spare and you want to see what the 1989 Great Divide Expedition was all about, be sure to check out the video posted below.
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