You might have seen the ad, it features sweeping shots of a city at night where a man in a Freelander is following a young lady in a hot air balloon. This is not your average tale of boy-meets-girl, girl rents hot air balloon, boy follows in 4×4 however. As the advert progresses they travel out into the countryside (taking playing hard-to-get a bit too far). They pass over mountain ranges and the like until she lands next to him. It’s actually a great advert, beautifully shot. The song has a very mellow vibe, just one man singing accompanied by an acoustic guitar. It reminds me of Dylan or perhaps a slightly more coherent Leonard Cohen.

A quick Google search turned up the name Jon Allen. Allen’s song “Going Home” soundtracks the advert and is available to download for free from his website.

It turns out the Jon grew up in a little town called Totnes which is not far from where I live. Totnes is exactly the kind of place you would expect to find a scruff young man strumming away at an acoustic guitar (if he couldn’t find his didgeridoo). Allen has supported Damien Rice and Jose Gonzalez which makes a lot of sense when you hear his music.

I contacted Allen to ask if he was paid in Landrovers and if so does he have a nice new Freelander 2 spare? So far he has failed to reply.

Malaria is a top issue in Africa, where 3 children succumb to the deadly disease every minute. The Expedition has given mosquito nets to pregnant women, as well as crucial education to the local communities.

“I can’t think of a better vehicle for this mission than the Land Rover,” stated Holgate. “This vehicle helped open up the continent for exploration; now it is going to help unite it.”

The mission also highlighted the untapped potential of Egypt’s growing off-road touring trend. “Land Rover is a natural leader,” stated MTI Automotive General Manager Ahmed El Gharib. “The brand is self-assured and respected and we are proud to support innovation in the tourist industry and exploration of Egypt’s remote costal areas. Land Rover stands for heritage, adventure, and the spirit of going beyond.”

On the back of the announcement to go ahead with the environmentally aware LRX models Landrover will have to think carefully about the impact these new touring businesses will have

This announcement comes after months of discussion and is Land Rover’s 1st loyalty deal. Full paid-up members of NFU will be able to claim savings off a range of vehicles including the Land Rover Defender, Freelander and Discovery.

It is hoped that further associations will be announced between Land Rover and other supporting organisations and that these collaborations will extend to Land Rover Owner Magazine subscribers alondg with the strong communities of Land Rover enthusiasts.

A Spokesman said: “I am delighted that we have managed to secure an exclusive affinity deal with Land Rover. Farmers have been using Land Rover vehicles for many years and this new programme represents outstanding value for all of our members who can now make great savings when buying a new Land Rover at their local dealership. This exclusive deal will also allow members to offset the increase in Vehicle Excise Duty when the new bands come into force in March 2009 for all vehicles with CO2 emissions over 225g/km.  See this Farmers World article for full Land Rover additional costs

“All Land Rover products have excellent residual values and longevity with 85 per cent of all vehicles the company has produced still in operation across the globe. They also have class leading payloads and towing capacities, making them ideal for our members’ use.

“Land Rover is an historic British car marque and the company upholds the philosophy of encouraging people to buy British produce. The deal also comes in the year when not only is the NFU celebrating its centenary but Land Rover is 60 years old, making this the perfect partnership.”

In these turbulent times with all the guff about Indian Ownership its important for Land Rover enthusiasts to remain cheerful. Heres a couple of “the old ones are the best” landrover jokes

I had this Land Rover that didn’t leak oil? I took it back to the dealership and their mechanics worked on it until it did.

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Landrovers don’t leak oil, they are marking their territory.

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If you are going to put a Land Rover picture up on the the wall – don’t forget to lay some old sheets down to catch the oil drips.

>Of course theres more to add but sometimes a simple visit to the Wikipedia Land Rover pages can be highly entertaining

In the short-term, very little will change for LandRover. Production will continue and Ford will continue to supply engines and other components to the companies. In the medium-term, the chances are that production of the more basic LandRover models will migrate to India. The most likely candidate for relocation would be LandRover’s Defender – seen here in action.

If all goes well, Tata will invest in the Jaguar and Land Rover brands and make a fat profit, thereby securing British jobs. In return, Tata will learn much about the luxury car market.