Range Rover celebrates 50th Anniversary with a massive snow art

- Founded in 1970, Range Rover turns 50 this year

- The snow art installation was made at JLR’s Arjeplog facility in Sweden

The Range Rover was launched in 1970 by British Leyland as a bigger, sportier model to the standard Land Rover. Which means, this year, the Range Rover marque has turned 50 and the British carmaker celebrated this anniversary by creating a snow art measuring 260m in diameter at the winter testing facility in Arjeplog, Sweden.

This massive art installation was made in sub-zero temperature on the steering pad of the test track by renowned artist Simon Beck. The 53,092 square metre anniversary logo was created by walking more than 45,000 steps across the powdery snow accompanied by four Range Rover SVR models.

For the uninitiated, the first-generation Range Rover was produced between 1970 and 1996 and was only available in a two-door body until 1981. Unlike the Jeep Wagoneer, which was a luxury alternative to the 4x4 models, the Range Rover was a more upmarket option to the Land Rover line-up. Although it still had a utilitarian interior, it came with many advanced features like power steering, air-conditioning, leather seats, coil springs (instead of leaf springs) and permanent four-wheel drive along with all-four disc brakes. The Range Rover was originally powered by various Rover V8 petrol and diesel engines.

The second-gen model arrived 25 years later and was on sale until 2002. Meanwhile, the third-gen model introduced aluminum chassis as the Range Rover marque moved further upmarket making use of BMW underpinnings. Only automatic transmission was offered with the new RR and the electronics were borrowed from the sophisticated E38 7 Series. The current fourth-gen Range Rover was introduced at 2012 Paris Motor Show and it debuted a diesel-hybrid powertrain for the first time.

Range Rover’s extended line-up now includes three other models. Firstly, the Range Rover Sport which has a sportier coupe-SUV body style followed by cheeky Range Rover Evoque that was introduced in 2013 by Victoria Beckham and which is also offered in a convertible body style; and the latest member to join in is the Range Rover Velar, which is a mid-size crossover that was introduced in 2017 as an avant-garde alternative to regular SUVs.