# The Land Rover Discovery: A Journey Through Time

The sound of a car engine rumbling and people cheering fills the air as I introduce myself. My name is James, and I'm your guide on this journey through the world of Land Rovers. From crawling on river terrains to tackling urban squawls, we're about to take you on an unforgettable ride.

I've had the privilege of driving one of the most iconic vehicles in the world – the Land Rover Discovery. With its impressive track record, it's no wonder this tall boy has won eight consecutive off-road competitions. And I'm not just talking about any old competition; I'm referring to the grueling events that test a vehicle's limits.

But what makes the Land Rover Discovery so special? For starters, it's been topping mountain peaks for nearly 30 years, leaving an indelible mark on the world of automotive enthusiasts. Its legacy is a testament to the brand's unwavering commitment to innovation and performance.

Big thanks to Keeps Hair Loss Prevention for sponsoring this episode. The sad reality is that two out of three men will experience some form of male pattern baldness by the age of 35. But with Keeps treatments, which are up to 90% effective at stopping and reducing further hair loss, there's hope for all those dudes out there.

Keeps offers a prescription shampoo to keep your scalp healthy too – no need to visit a doctor or go to the pharmacy to get it. Simply visit Keeps.com/uptospeed50, and you'll receive 50% off your first order. That's K-E-E-P-S.com slash uptospeed50 for you.

But enough about hair loss prevention; let's dive into the history of Land Rovers. It all started in the late 1970s when Land Rover was struggling under British Leyland's umbrella company. The parent company didn't really make umbrellas, but it did own a bunch of other brands like Mini, MG, and Triumph.

The managing hands-off approach to Land Rovers was similar to how I was raised – and turned out perfect! The brand had been neglected for nearly ten years since the last update. To make matters worse, the gas crisis of 1979 was changing the way the car industry operated around the world.

Lifestyle 4X4 emerged as a solution, offering smaller, more efficient trucks and SUVs that young people and families could afford. One of the first groups to jump on this trend were Japanese manufacturers like Mitsubishi, Isuzu, and Jeep.

As I reminisce about the past, I'm reminded of how far Land Rovers have come. And it's all thanks to vehicles like the Discovery, which have made a lasting impact on the world of automotive enthusiasts.

So there you have it – a journey through time that's taken us from crawling river terrains to tackling urban squawls. Thanks for joining me, and don't lose your hair with Keeps.com/uptospeed50. Support the sponsors that support Donut, and remember, 17 years is a long way off – but it's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to male pattern baldness.

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WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(car engine rumbles)(people cheering)- Oi, mate, you like discos?No not the kind of jolly venture bold timebig olde staying alive,I'm talking the rivercrawling, terrane hauling,urban squawling kind of disco.This tall boy won the most gruelingoff-road competition eight years in a row.Made Land Rover a householdname across the world.It's been tippin' andtoppin' on mountain topsfor nearly 30 years.(car engine rumbles)(engine revving)(horn honking)This is everything you need to knowto be up to speed.It was just me the wholetime, your friend James.On the Land Rover discovery.(upbeat music)Big thanks to Keeps Hair Loss Preventionfor sponsoring this episode.The sad fact is thattwo out of three dudeswill experience some formof male patter baldnessby the age of 35.Luckily that's 17 years away for me.I'm only 18 years old.But honestly,it's never too early to prevent hair loss.Keeps treatments are up to 90% effectiveat stopping and reducing further hairloss.And the best part is,you don't even have to goall the way to the doctorto get it.Thanks to Keeps, you canvisit a doctor onlineand get your medication shippedright to your house.Plus, Keeps now offersa prescription shampooto keep your scalp healthy too.If you're ready to take actionand prevent hair lossgo to Keeps.com/uptospeed50to receive 50% off your first order.That's K-E-E-P-S .com slashuptospeed50.Support the sponsors that support Donutand don't lose your hair.(beep)it all started in the late 1970s.Land Rover had just spent the last decadebeing hamstrung by the parent company,British Leyland.This umbrella company, not actually anumbrella company, it's just what you calllike a bigger company that ownsa bunch of little, littler companies.They didn't really make umbrellas.I digress.This umbrella company owned other brandslike Mini, MG and Triumph.And like bad parents,BL's managing of Land Roverwas generally hands-off,which is how I was raisedand I turned out perfect.Land Rover and Range Rover modelshad been completely neglectedand was nearly ten yearssince the last update.To add to their stress, thegas crisis of 1979was quickly changingthe way the car industryoperated around the world.Look guys, I know wementioned the gas crisisin almost every episode,but here's the thing.It really f(beep)ked things up.I have to mention it.Lifestyle 4X4 was the namefor smaller, moreefficient trucks and SUVsthat young people and familiescould afford.A car that could hold all your kidsand could get messy.One of the first groupsto jump on this trendwas Japanese manufacturers.Models, like the MitsubishiPajero, Isuzu Trooper,and Jeep jand kerakee,Jeep Grand Cherokee.Land Rover was getting,where is that guy?He hasn't missed and episode in likea year and a half.If that guy was here he's be like,"Actually James, Jeepisn't a Japanese brand!"and he's be right.Because he's always right,whether he is or not.Anyway!The Land Rover was getting pummeledall over the world by theseJapanese and American 4X4s,mostly Japanese.Not only were they smaller and cheaper,they were chockfull of new techan area the British Leyland had basicallyforgotten about for the last decade.Land Rover saw this "Motor Trend"copyright, trademark.And decided somethinghad to be done about it.Time for an upgrade!The Series III Land Rover was replacedby the Land Rover 110and a year later, the Land Rover 90.They're essentially the same carand later would be called The Defender.Rover improved upon the older Series IIIby offering a honkin', big old 3.5L V8known as the Rover V8.(truck engine rumbles)This was good news for farmersand rural Rover enthusiasts who needed,I guess that dude couldn'tmake it to the shoot,I hope he's okay!Anyway,they needed "Mo' power baby!"The high end Range Rover also receivedmuch needed upgrades.For the first time in history,the Range Rover, now,had leather trim.Hmmmm?An automatic transmission.Ahhh?And five beautiful doors!As opposed to the original 3 door model.Now, it wouldn't be awkwardto jump in the back seat!(James grunts)Excuse me.Sorry guys.You in?They don't offer a five door modelYou in?I don't know why I'm in the back. (groans)You in?Do you like how I'm wearing my hat?I feel like a lot of aregonna wear it like thisin the future.Okay we're in. Oh, nope!But only for a while and then if you wearif you wear it like this after a while--(grunts) Can you hand me my seatbelt?Needless to say, the five door modelended up being so popularthat they said "Eh, you know what?"You know what mate? Let's discontinue"this three door Range Rover altogether."No-one likes havinga butt in their face!""Until you do! I'm cheeky!"I like a butt in my face sometimes!"Sometimes I like a bigol juicy bum in my face!"The success of both vehicles wasundeniable baby!Foreigners loved the Land Roverbecause of how many pigsthey could fit in the back.And the rich people loved the Range Roverbecause of how many oftheir pig like childrenthey could fit in the back.But you might be asking yourself,James, what about allthe people in-between?I'm neither a farmer nora rich pig-looking kid-having grown-up.Well Range had gone, so hardin two different directionsthat they now had a new problemthey needed to deal with.They needed a volume carthat they could sell to the masses.So Rover rolled up their, probably frilly,British sleeves, and got to workdesigning a third modelthat would appeal to a broader audience,particularly, the lifestyle demographic.This new model, code named Model Jayneeded to be cheaper than the defenderand Range Rover but just as competent.If not better at off-roading.It was a tall order to fill (laugh)but if they were successful,this third model might usher ina new generation ofLand Rover enthusiasts.So in late 1986,nine years before Post Malone was born.Production began on Project Jayand also the new Range rover,code named Pegasus, which isa buff horse with wings.Designing a new car is expensivetrust me, I almost went bankruptdesigning the Pumpfry 502but designing two?Hella expensive!If Rover wanted to stay aflootthey were gonna need tomake some sacrifices.And I'm not talking about eating your babyin order to become a witch.Which I did!Don't ask!Rover shut down thirteenplants, worldwide,to concentrate their efforts on developingand building their newcars in Solihull, England.Things started to look bleakand it wasn't clear ifover had enough cashto follow through with their project.But their luck was about to changewith a little known isthmus betweenCanada and Mexico called America.Range Rovers had up until this pointonly been sold through thegray market in the statesbut, in March of 1987,they finally became fully legal.And were an instant success!(cheers and clapping)rich 1980's Americans like my parentsbought them up like theywere going out of style.But they weren't going out of stylebecause a such classic design!With this new source of revenue,Rover felt confident,pushing forward with development.Project Jay was basicallyan economy version of the Range Rover.Features like the chassis, windscreen,inner door panels, bodypanels, suspension,and 5-speed manualgearbox were all borrowed.For better off-roading, they went withfull time all wheel drive witha lockable center diff.The only thing to figure out was the name.Highlander and Prairie Roverwere briefly thrown around and they evenconsidered naming the carthe Pumphrey Buttwagon.I promise.Before settling on the name Discovery.(people cheering)(engine rev noises)the power plant Land Rover decided to putinto the Discovery was the same classic3.5L Rover used in the Range Rover.Despite the name Rover V8,this motor was actually designed by GMfor use in Buicks before Rover adopted it.An optional 2.5L fourcylinder turbo dieselthe 200TDI however,was a genuine Rover-developed engine.It could make 111 buff horses at 4000RPMand 105 torquey romanos.It was one of the first mass producedfuel-injected diesels and featuredaluminum alloy cylinder headsthat reduced both noise and weight.These engines are solid.And it's pretty common to see themwith over 300,000 miles on one.One of the only thingsthat set the Discoveryapart from the RangeRover was the interior.The styling of the cabin was done byConran Design Group,who were told by Rover,"Ignore current car interior design"and position the car asa lifestyle accessory!"And quite frankly, they did a bang up job.Features like a sunglasses holderbuilt directly into the steering wheel.Sick!And map pockets on the ceiling.Sick for back then.And a removable Discovery branded bagon the center console.Would still be sick today!They also designed the ceiling.And this is the coolestpart about Discoveries,they have two removable sunroofsand two things called alpine roofsthat were basically sunroofs on the side.And they slathered the whole interiorin sonar blue plastic and fabric.Which is way way differentfrom the dark interiors that Roverusually dress their cabins in.(engine revving)(squealing tires)(Horn honking)the 1990 model year Discoverywas finished just in time to appearat the 1989 Frankfurt Motor Show.And people hated it!Uh wait.I guess hate is the wrong word.What is that word that I was looking for?They loved it!(party blowers blow)(people cheering)People absolutely loved it.It was cool, it wasstylish, it had frickengraphics all over the side.People were psyched to seethe first new Land Rover in two decades.The best part of thisFrankfurt Show was the hotdogs,but the second best partwas that an engineerfrom a Japanese competitor,had to be escortedofs the premises becausehe was shaving fabricoff the Discos interior to take back homeand copy it.Not only was it youthful and trendy,it could perform betterthan it's competition.In an ironic M. Night Shamalanian twist,Honda ended up buying a 20 percent sharein Land Rover in 1990.Honda sold re-badged Discoveries in Japanunder the name Honda Crossroad.This was the first time Honda had everre-badged a foreign vehicleand sold it as their own.It was that good.Success of the Disco waslargely in part becauseof it's affordability butit was also due to how different it wasfrom its upmarket brother the Range Rover.And it was made to get dirty.It had plastic that could be easilywiped down for you ifyour baby puked in it.(baby pukes)Rover intentionally kept it as a 3-doorto further distance it from its brother.Commercial director atthe time Chris Woodarksummed it up pretty well saying"It's a leisure vehicle not aimed at"the luxury sector at all."Discovery is for yuppiesand the Range Rover"is for thems peoplewhose already made it."Well, I'm gonna go skydiving now!"Let's go boys. All right!"The Discovery was a cool family-orientedoffroading car that everyone could enjoy.And it couldn't havecome at a better time.Its launch basically insured the company'ssurvival into the 21st century.One of the coolest things aboutSeries I Discoveryis it had a milliondifferent special additionsthat Camel Trophy was theultimate off-road Discoverythat came in only sand glow yellowwith tornado alloy wheels, bull bars,a roof rack and a (beep) damn snorkel.That's right (beep) adammit (beep) snorkel.(engine revving)If you're not with the camel trophy,it was a gurling off-road competitionheld on some of the mostchallenging terrain on Earth.Place like Madagascar, Siberia,and the Amazonian River Basin.Land Rover had a reputation fordominating this competition,and the Series I Discovery won every yearfrom 1990 to 1997.(car engine rumbles)First disco was a part spin Frankensteinbecause of budget constraints,but Rover was able to puta little TLC and moneytowards the upcoming refresh.Honda lent their knowledge tohelp make Land Rover productsand manufacturing more reliable.In 1991, they added a five-doorDiscovery to their lineup.In 1993, the Discovery wasthe best selling 4xfur in Britain.It was out-selling the Isuzi Trooper,the Jeep Grand Cherokee,and the Suzuki Vitara.Land Rover went from almostbroke to being on the topin like 10 years, so what you do?You keep it going, baby!In 1994, the Series I got a face-liftand an updated interior tomake it seem more "Car-like."The Disco came with anadvanced advanced sound system,airbags for the firsttime, both engines receivedmore power, baby!The Diesel 200TDI wasreplaced by a 2.5L, 300TDIand the 3.5L Rover V8got board out to 3.9L.This also marked the first yearthe Discovery became available in the US.Around the same time,BMW acquired Land Roverand their relationship with Honda ended.Investment in Land Roverdoubled, and work began onthe second generation Discovery.In 1998, the Discovery Series II debuted.It was drastically differentthan the first gen.BMW's official count was 720 changes.Why they needed to mention that?I don't know.They're freakin' German.And Germans like to doshit(beep) like that.Rover got rid of thethree-door version altogetherand now, only offered a five-door.For this gen, Land Rover wantedtwo distinct trim levels.One for on-roading, and the other,for you guessed it, off-roading.(car engine rumbles)The V8 version nowfeatured featured the P38,4L, V8, nicknamed theThor, from the Range Rover,later, it got a morepowerful 4.6L V8 in the USthat made 225 buff horsesand 280 pound feet of twen-erks, suh.(engine revs)Finally we get the cooler version.Suck it!The 300TDI was replaced by the TD5 engine,a 2.5L inline five.The TDI was electronically managed,with more useful torque at a lower RPMfor when you're drivingup a really steep inclineto meet up with your coven, to do spells.The chassis and suspensionwere upgraded with the helpof BMW engineering.A hydrologic anti-robar systemcalled active cornering enhancement,helped reduce body roll.The third generation,named the Discovery 3,debuted in 2004.In the States and in the MiddleEast, it was dubbed the LR3.No Ma, call me LR3.This was the every man's off-roader.It had a mode called terrain responsethat was basically easymode for trial crawling.Alls you gots to dos is, press a button,and you're freakin' good to get, dude.The other three had fullyindependent air suspension,it was adjustable for off-roadingand can mimic the movement of a bean axle.Meaning, if one wheel dropped,the other wheel would rise.Additionally, if the bottomof the LR3 hit the ground,the computer would sense it,and raise the air bags another inch.This suspension was smarter than Nolan,and Nolan's not even that dumb.(car engine rumbles)All the engines in the LR3s were derivedfrom Land Rover's step-sister Jaguar.(cat meows)And their new daddy, Ford.The coolest engine offered in the LR3 wasa Jaguar-derived 2.7L Turbo Diesel V6,which made 195 horse power,with 325 pound feet of torque.This thing was a (sneezes) torque monster.Excuse me.The next refresh can out in 2009,named the Land Rover 4R,LR4 here in the States,'cause we're so cool, wedidn't use abbreviations.Most improvements weremechanical and engine-based.The Land Rover was now ownedby an Indian motor group Tata.The LR4 exclusivelyoffered Jaguar engines.The 2.7L turbo diesel was upgraded to 3L.The later versions of thisengine made 252 turbo horsesmore than any other dieselengine Land Rover ever!The gen four V8 optionis a big hockin' 5L,makes 385 horsies, and 380 twerks.That's almost horse pork.I think JFK said,("Star Spangled Banner" plays)"With great torque, comesgreat gearsponsibility."And that couldn't be more true.The standard gearbox on theLR4s is six-speed ZF automatic,but it's available in a six-speed manual.(exclaims) and an eight-speed automaticwith paddle shifters.Which you know, I'mreally coming around to.I like paddle shifties.The LR4 also has an updated version ofthe train response modecalled "rock crawl mode."(car engine rumbles)Why not?Land Rovers are supposed to bethe best off-roaders, right?The present generationDiscovery 5 de-butted atthe 2016 Paris Motor Show.It's rounder than it's ever been.And barely distinguishablefrom any other SUV on the road.One positive about the new gen isthat it's constructedmostly out of Aluminum,or Alumin-ium because it's a British car,and that reduces theweight over 1000lbs fromthe previous gen.1000lbs is a lot, I mean that's like...Listen I know it shouldn'tbother me this much,but that guy's been in like,every taping for the past year,and I mean, I'm already donetalking about the Discovery.I feel kinda weird.I might go take a nap.(electronic music)Okay, fine, twist my arm,long story short, I ate baby meat,and now I'm a witch,so don't mess with me,'cause now, I'm a spookyspooky witch with a cauldron,with spells and a cat.Yeah, we're out there making potions.Anyway, I love you.