Land Rover’s Luey the Lion

Based on a Series 1 Land Rover, Luey represents the marque’s global conversation support

By Shahzad Sheikh

On the recent international launch for the new 2013 Range Rover (read my review here) these model lions were dotted around each of the coffee and lunch stops on our test route between Essaouira and Marrakech.

Beautifully finished and presented, they appeared to be a strange fusion between animal and machine and seemed to suggest what a Land Rover Series 1 would look like if it was in fact a lion – or should that be the other way around?

Based on a Series 1 Land Rover, Luey the Lion represents the marque’s global conversation support

‘Luey the Lion’

Luey the Lion, as it is called, stemmed from a recent collaboration between Land Rover and the Born Free Foundation (Land Rover’s Global Conservation Partner), as part of a UK-based public arts wildlife sculptures event. The most recent was the Go Safari Northampton (UK) exhibition.

The life-sized fibre-glass lions were created by the Land rover Design team based in Gaydon (UK). Inspired by ‘HUE 166’ – the very first Series 1 Land Rover – helping to highlight awareness of the partnership between Land Rover and Born Free.

Luey uses the same colours, graphics and textures from the iconic HUE 166 Land Rover, celebrating both our association with the Born Free Foundation and our long heritage.

Born Free Foundation

The foundation originated in the UK in 1984 by actors Virginia McKenna and her husband Bill Travers and their son Will Travers. They were inspired after staring in the 1966 film Born Free which told the story of George and Joy Adamson as they returned Elsa the lioness back to the wilds of Africa.

The foundation undertakes animal welfare, conservation and public awareness campaigns to prevent animal abuse and keep wildlife in its natural habitat – and of course its mascot remains a lion which is said to be a likeness of Elsa.

Born Free is supported by celebrities including Joanna Lumley, Martin Clunes, Bryan Adams, Rachel Hunter, Helen Worth, Jenny Seagrove and Martin Shaw.

Find out more at http://www.bornfree.org.uk

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