I've never owned a Land Rover. I always wanted one, but was never in a position (financially) before to be able to purchase what I wanted. Initially, I fell in love with the Range Rover Classics from late 80's - mid 90's, because my Mom's boss at the time (CFO for a large CPG company in the US) had one, and aside from it being a status symbol for an accomplished professional, I was in love with the shape/profile/body lines, and the fact that it was a proper adventure 4x4 vehicle. Also, it didn't exactly quell the fire inside of me when my Mom's boss gave me a VHS tape (which presumably must have come with his RRC on delivery) of the Camel Trophy events, and I was hooked on the LR brand and wanted either an RRC or classic Defender, as a result. Also, we had 2 dealerships in close proximity to where I grew up, and I was always intrigued by the fact that their dealerships had a distinct adventure/safari design vibe - it wasn't exactly the Ford dealership that I was accustomed to as a child.
Whenever the LR3 came to market in the US, I desperately wanted the G4 Challenge model (the orange one with the roof rack + 4 off-road lights and the bull bar with the integrated winch). I even had one of the promo images as the background on my Windows 2000/XP desktops at the time
- but, I was too young, and no where near lucky enough to afford one.
Fast forward to today...I've gone through 4-year college, grad school, and worked super hard over the past 15 years to get to where I'm now fortunate enough to be in a position to own Land Rover - even if it's not a Land Rover, but the spiritual successor to a LR Defender. Looking forward to delivery of my Grenadier, soon!