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The Defender sand drawing is 1 kilometre across.
Nick and Stephen Wilks with the limited edition
Land Rover
Defender "Heritage".
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Land Rover draws a line in the sand
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13th January, 2015
Land Rover has gone back to the place where it all began to start a
year-long celebration of the iconic Defender. A unique 1km sand drawing at Red Wharf Bay in Anglesey, Wales, leads the
brand towards the closing of a chapter in the Defender story.
As UK production of the current Defender enters its final phase, Land Rover will use 2015 to celebrate its global
automotive icon and look ahead to an all-new range of Defenders.
Land Rover Vehicle Line Director Nick Rogers explains the significance of remaking one of the world’s most iconic
vehicles: “Passion and enthusiasm surround everything we do with Defender, and that will never change. With a history
stretching back 68 years, this is a Land Rover that has thrived for decades on its unquestionable capability and iconic
shape. I am now lucky enough to be one of the many enthusiasts at Land Rover committed to creating a fitting successor to
the legendary Defender.”
To mark the announcement Land Rover has made the largest sand drawing ever produced in the UK. A Defender outline
measuring a staggering 1km across was drawn on the beach at Red Wharf Bay in Anglesey using a fleet of six Land Rovers.
The unique image is a tribute to the moment in 1947 when the engineering director of Rover, Maurice Wilks, first sketched
the shape for the original Land Rover in the sand of Red Wharf Bay and proposed the idea to his brother Spencer, Rover’s
then managing director.
“My father met his brother on the beach at Red Wharf Bay and made a drawing in the sand of how he thought the Land
Rover could be made,” said Stephen Wilks, son of Maurice. “That was the start of it all, the conception of Land
Rover.”
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The Wilks family owned land on the Welsh island and Maurice wanted a versatile vehicle that could double as a light
tractor and off-roader. His forward-thinking design was tagged the ‘Land Rover’, the outline of which we now recognise as
the Defender.
Making the giant piece of temporary artwork at Red Wharf Bay required six Land Rovers, each towing an agricultural
12-foot harrow to draw the unmistakable outline of the Defender in the sand. The vehicles chosen for the race against the
Anglesey tides chart the evolution of the Defender from its introduction in 1948 to the present day.
A Land Rover Series I, II and III were joined on the beach by a Ninety from the Eighties, a Defender 90 Hard Top and a
Defender 110 Station Wagon. The immaculate Series II once belonged to the Wilks family and in memory of the moment
originally enacted by their fathers, cousins Stephen and Nick Wilks, the sons of Maurice and Spencer Wilks respectively,
were on hand to take part. They helped to draw the continuous 4.52km line – the length of 1,118 Defender 90 Station
Wagons – into the sand with just minutes to spare before it was erased by the incoming tide.
The event included the debut of the Defender Celebration Series; two exciting new limited edition models which each
celebrate a different element of Defender’s unique history. The Heritage and Adventure Editions are all powered by Land
Rover’s proven 2.2-litre diesel engine with production numbers limited to just 2,654 and 2,277 units respectively.
E&OE.
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