One-millionth Land Rover Discovery finishes England-to-China journey
After nearly two straight months on the road, the one-millionth Land Rover Discovery has finished its Journey of Discovery, the British carmaker's biggest modern-day overland expedition, by reaching its finish line in perfect time to appear at the Beijing Motor Show.
The expedition began on February 29 at the Solihull manufacturing plant near Birmingham in the United Kingdom where the one-millionth Discovery was built. It was joined by three other vehicles and has passed through 13 countries over challenging terrain ranging from snow in the Alps to sun-baked sand dunes in the Taklimakan Desert.
"This has been an epic journey between two of the biggest events on the automotive calendar and, as we expected, it has demonstrated virtually every condition a Land Rover is designed to cope with," said John Edwards, Land Rover's global brand director. "This has been a very relevant journey for Land Rover, taking such a landmark vehicle from its birthplace to one of our fastest-growing markets and showcasing it in all terrains."
Driving into Beijing in an unwashed state after a journey that took over 50 days, the one-millionth Discovery will be returning to the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust at the Heritage Museum at Gaydon following the expedition.
Here is what the journey was like broken down in numbers:
- 17,500 images taken
- 80 hours of video
- 78 cities visited
- Number of people involved: 112 including crew and media
- 50 days
- 10,000 miles
- 2,920m driven in China alone
- Highest point: 3,700 meters ont the Torugart pass between Kyrgyzstan and China
- Lowest point: 10 meters below sea level in Turfan, China
