Better late than never!
Land Rovers were not officially imported to Pakistan until 2004 but it already has a thriving club scene
PAKISTAN was one of the last countries in the world to import Land Rovers, but it sure has been making up for lost time. The Pakistan Land Rover Club was founded in 2008 and today has members throughout Pakistan, as well 4500 worldwide followers on the club’s Facebook page.
Land Rovers were not officially introduced to Pakistan until 2004, when a local entrepreneur started assembling CKD (Completely Knocked Down) kits. But the nation’s 4x4 enthusiasts were already familiar with the versatility of the marque thanks to the many leaf-sprung Series workhorses used from the early 1960s onwards by contractors brought in to build the country’s irrigation infrastructure. Others arrived with a variety of UK and European-supported development projects, social development organisations, and academic institutions.
At that time there were few privately-owned Land Rovers, since the Pakistan 4x4 scene was totally dominated by American and Japanese brands, although they did start to trickle down to private individuals when the Land Rovers in the public sector were eventually auctioned off and gradually became part of the mainstream off-road scene. Though few in numbers, these privately-owned Land Rovers actively participated in outdoor adventures through local off-road clubs and events, but there was no dedicated community for those owners to gain knowledge about their vehicles, resolve some of the common issues and, most importantly, to collectively appreciate the beauty of Land Rover.
All that changed in 2008 when a small group of friends decided to set up the Pakistan Land Rover Club (PLRC). Since then the membership has grown exponentially. With its primary outreach for mostly Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Northern Punjab-based Land Rovers, today club members come from the entire country.
The PLRC acts as a resource centre for advice on a variety of vehicle-related matters, its network actively helps members with maintenance, loosely-structured off-road training, organisation of national solidarity events and promotion of local small-scale entrepreneurs dealing with the repair and maintenance.
Pakistan is a peaceful country with a lot of untapped potential for off-road adventures that is yet to be explored. PLRC regularly organises outdoor events that combine off-roading with other outdoor activities such as camping and hiking. The club also teaches its members safe and proper off-road driving skills and provides support to voluntary services and local and national agencies dealing with natural emergencies.
Like most Land Rover clubs around the world, the PLRC’S activities have been impacted upon by coronavirus. Before the pandemic took hold, the club had celebrated the new year with a ‘Welcome to 2020’ event in Islamabad, attended by 20 per cent of the club’s members. It was followed in February with a Snow Cross event at Bakote in the Khyber-pakhtunkhwa province. Located in a valley 6000 feet above sea level, there were lots of opportunities for snow driving. After lockdown, in August, the club held an event at the Khanpur Dam, Rawalpindi.
“Pakistan is a peaceful country with a lot of untapped potential for off-road adventures that is yet to be explored”