Two iconic brands
“Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success.” No advertiser, no marketing agency, no modern creative could have come up with a better slogan than this one – ironically, conceived by a competing car manufacturer like Henry Ford – to give strength to the symbiotic action of Land Rover Defender And Italian Red Crossiconic brands with different origins and missions, but firmly united by common characteristic traits.
Such as strength, robustness, concrete, unostentatious, reliability; and safety, in every environment and situation. Combined with a history that respects its origins, but is continuously aligned with changes in society.
Seventy years of common journey
Recently – on 21 and 22 June – CRI and Defender celebrated two significant milestones in their partnership. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies celebrated its 160th anniversary in Solferino, the birthplace of the world’s largest humanitarian organization. Members of the Red Cross “family”, volunteers, institutions and partners gathered in the city of the historic battle, to remember the initial steps of the movement imagined by Henry Dunant, the founderin 1864.
And which has since impacted the lives of millions of people on every continent. For the past 70 years, the iconic off-roader has been a partner of the Red Cross, also supporting vulnerable communities and environments in crisis around the world.
To honour these milestones, Defender (now a separate brand of the manufacturer with British origins and Indian ownership) and the Italian Red Cross have announced a new collaboration with the addition of a Defender 130 Outbound to the disaster response fleet, specially modified to handle emergencies. A vehicle that could be seen at work in Sardinia alongside it, at the wheel of a series model, based at the Defender House, the glamorous outpost that the brand has set up on the Costa Smeralda for the entire month of June, the starting point for off road excursions in a former granite quarry just outside Arzachena and in inaccessible areas close to it.
The always connected mobile station
“The vehicle, which fully embodies the values and motto of CRI, ‘being there everywhere’ – he explains Marco Santucci, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover Italia – will use its unstoppable all-terrain capability to support interventions in response to floods, landslides and mudslides”.
“It will serve – continues Santucci – as a means of intervention and as a platform for the connection technology of the relief association, acting as a mobile satellite station to maintain communications in areas affected by disasters. In fact, it will provide a continuous connection, ensuring with SpaceX’s Starlink system that the mobilization of the Italian Red Cross is never compromised by interruptions in the cellular network, a common problem during hydrogeological disasters linked to climate change”.
“The project – concludes the CEO – involves the use of satellite technology through a satellite dish mounted on the roof, already used in static emergency units, but used for the first time on a mobile unit through the Defender 130 Outbound, always ready to face rough terrain and the most difficult conditions.”
The British off-road vehicle, which thanks to the electronic air suspension that allows a wheel excursion of up to 43 centimetres can tackle fords of up to almost a metre, is also equipped with an additional 230V electrical system with inverter and dedicated battery charger, equipment for water rescue, for first aid and assistance to people in difficulty, a winch with a traction force of 4,536 kg and the classic towing hook with a capacity of up to three tonnes.
On the side of those who bring aid “everywhere for anyone”
“The availability of top-of-the-line tools and technologies like those that Land Rover has given us for many years, with the supply of Defenders that are increasingly suited to our needs, is a source of great pride, for me and for the association I represent. I therefore thank the brand, our friend and collaborator, who with this new vehicle reaffirms its commitment towards CRI and those in difficulty”, underlines Debora Diodati, vice president of the Italian Red Cross.
“The partnership with Land Rover Defender – he explains – is consolidated and fruitful, as demonstrated by other humanitarian initiatives conducted together, such as ‘The roads of solidarity’, a project aimed at the homeless, thanks to which we can bring blankets, hot meals and medicines to many people. A community of needy that also includes the new poverty, with requests for help that in the post-Covid period have increased by almost 50 percent, in our 671 territorial Committees spread across the country”.
“This new Defender 130 Outbound – concludes Diodati – will soon leave for Ukraineto temporarily lend a helping hand to the local population brought to its knees by the conflict triggered by the Russian invasion”.
Exceptional testimonial
Among the green of the vegetation and the walls colored by the leaden gray of the granite that was extracted in the former quarry where the new vehicle for the CRI was tested, in the company of a caravan of series models, it made a fine presence of itself, announcing its arrival with a powerful roar that tore through the still quiet of the places just a handful of kilometers away from the fashionable Costa Smeralda, even a Defender Rally Series UKSUV for which a dedicated single-make championship is reserved.
The rally-prepared Defenders from the very popular UK series are closely related to the P300 production models with additional safety features, including race-spec seats, FIA-approved roll cages and fire extinguishers. They use the same powerful 300PS Ingenium petrol engine, eight-speed ZF automatic transmission and advanced all-wheel drive system as the dealership models.
The Defender Rally Series competitions aim to showcase the all-terrain capabilities of the brand’s vehicles, even in the most challenging environments. Competitors take a new Defender 90 and, with a little specialist rally training, tackle a series of tough challenges to test the vehicle’s robustness and the endurance of the crew. A great toy.
Price to indulge in the racing whim, unfortunately denied to the group of testers, even in the form of a brief taste in Sardinian soil? Around 130 thousand euros. Of course, a figure not within everyone’s budget; but not too high either, given the costs of other similar championships.
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