HOW IT WON OVER THE CRITICS

Former Rover Group PR chief Denis Chick recalls the unique approach he took to introducing media to the Freelander in July 1997.

He says: “It occurred to me when I was interviewing engineers about their part in the car’s development how much passion there was for the project and how young the team was. So before the press actually drove the car, we invited them to Gaydon to meet these engineers.

“It was done in a speed-dating format, where each function brought components and presentations to tell the development story in three dimensions.

“Then, two months later, we held a larger global media drive event at the Las Dunas Hotel near Marbella in Spain. We were out there for five weeks, and each group drove their Freelanders straight out of the hotel and onto a beach, and then onto a dry riverbed, giving them the chance to use the car’s Hill Descent Control and new four-wheel drive system. Roger Crathorne designed the off-road course, which was cleverly created to appear far trickier than it really was. The journos also got to drive around 130 miles on lovely Spanish roads.”

And the reception to the car? “Excellent.”