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LAND ROVER DEDICATES UNIQUE DEMONSTRATION COURSE


"Black diamond" features challenge even the most skilled drivers

Lanham, MD (7/9/96) -- The Land Rover Demonstration Course at Lanham Creek was dedicated today in ceremonies at Land Rover North America's national headquarters in Lanham, Maryland, just outside the District of Columbia. It is the first phase of a new $10 million installation and will be joined by a 60,000 square foot office complex now under construction and a campus for Land Rover University, which will have its own off-road training course.



Parris N. Glendening, Governor of Maryland, and Wayne K. Curry, County Executive for Prince George's County, participated, unveiling a bronze plaque appropriately affixed to a four-ton, quarried Genesis rock from White Hall, Maryland.

In his prepared remarks, Governor Glendening said, "Land Rover North America's new demonstration course is a part of an exciting expansion project by the company that will create good-paying, family-supporting jobs while also boosting Maryland's reputation as a business-friendly state, We appreciate Land Rover's commitment to Maryland, as evidenced by this impressive and exciting demonstration course and the company's planned new headquarters and training facility."

The estimated 300 people attending had the opportunity to ride over the course, driven by ten veterans of Camel Trophy, the annual off-road adventure known as the "Olympics of four-wheel drive." Three of the challenges the route presents have been accorded "black diamond" status and can be navigated only by the most experienced off-pavement experts. Emphasis is placed on the need to maintain proper speeds, ranging from a crawl to five mph, for each section.

Designed and built by John Cummings of Outside Associates, Houston, whose credentials include the landscaping of many areas of EuroDisney, the course, set on a six-acre site, is both visually spectacular and environmentally sensitive to its protected wetlands status.

Charles R. Hughes, president, Land Rover North America, said, "We are proud that John Cummings created this course, which is a rare blending of art and engineering and perfectly affords dramatic demonstrations of the unmatched capabilities of Land Rover vehicles. We are also pleased to be the only sport utility manufacturer in the U.S. to have such a dramatic course on the site of its national headquarters.

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LR9638###07/09/96

Note: Land Rover vehicles are not subject to the 10% luxury tax as they are classified as multi-passenger vehicles with a gross weight rating in excess of 6,000 lbs.