2003 Land Rover Discovery in Santa Monica, California

Land Rovers are the real thing. They were around before sport-utilities were a glimmer in the eyes of the world's marketeers. Land Rover earned its legend in Africa and the Australian Outback, bounding over rocks and hills, fording creeks and rivers, thundering along the savanna, creeping through tall grasslands among prides of lazy lions sulking in the sunlight.

Land Rover Discovery's suspension articulation, four-wheel-drive, and extensive off-road technology must be experienced in extreme conditions to be truly appreciated. Land Rover Centres are staffed with outdoor enthusiasts committed to customer satisfaction. Most have attended Land Rover University in Maryland to learn how to exercise that commitment and to sharpen off-road driving skills.

The Discovery was born in England in 1989 and introduced to North America five years later. It immediately set about spreading the Land Rover experience, by driving overall sales from 4906 in 1994 to 23,826 by 1997. Discovery was redesigned for 1999, and a new chassis and suspension made the Discovery Series II a smoother highway vehicle without compromising its off-road capability. Discovery Series II boosted overall Land Rover sales another 30 percent. Land Rover invested $190 million in its factory in England in 2001, taking advantage of the resources and technology of its parent company Ford, and improving quality control.