By Mike Torpey on 2015-11-20 - Driving Force news editor and responsible for organising our daily output. He was staff motoring editor of the Liverpool Echo for 20 years.
Range Rover
negotiates a paper
bridge
Driving a Range Rover across a bridge made of paper - sounds like it may be an illusion from Dynamo or David Blaine.
But that's exactly what Land Rover has done with its flagship luxury SUV model.
The company commissioned a freestanding bridge, without glue or bolts to hold it in place, at Suzhou, China, to mark the 45thanniversary of its Range Rover family.
The hand-built paper structure took three days to construct in the ancient water city of Suzhou, which is famous for its bridges and nicknamed Venice of the East.
Land Rover has a pedigree for unusual adventures, starting with becoming the first vehicle to drive across the Darien Gap in Central America.
Land Rover Experience chief instructor Chris Zhou was entrusted with negotiating the paper bridge, using a variety of all-terrain technologies to preserve the delicate fabric of the structure.
Jaguar Land Rover's engineering chief Nick Rogers said: "China is animportant market for Range Rover, so we have picked the perfect place to celebrate 45 years of our luxury SUV family.
"Range Rover's advanced lightweight body and peerless all-terrain capability were crucial factors in making this unique drive possible."
Artist and paper bridge designer Steve Messam added: "Paper structures capable of supporting people have been built before but nothing on this scale has ever been attempted.
"It's pushing engineering boundaries and the ease and composure with which the vehicle negotiated the arch was genuinely breathtaking."
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