Land Rover celebrates 60 years

• Land Rover is 60 this year
• New book celebrates achievement
• Author worked at Land Rover for 45 years

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Land Rover is celebrating its golden jubilee this year: cue a book. 'Born in Lode Lane' is no ordinary manufacturer tome, however.

For one thing, it's by Roger Crathorne, who was born in Lode Lane, a mile from the Land Rover factory in Solihull, and began working there in 1963.

He even beat the first Land Rover into the world by a year: he was born in 1947, but the first car did not appear until the Amsterdam motor show on April 30, 1948.

This is a far more readable book than those which focus on the minutiae of engines and production figures. Its anecdotal style captures a quintessentially British company through the eyes of a man who has been there for 45 years, through good times and bad.

'Born in Lode Lane' by Roger Crathorne with Gavin Green is available from www.landrovergear.com and costs £12.50. All proceeds will go to the British Red Cross.