The 101 Forward Control didn’t look much like a Land Rover – it was more of a socking great truck built for the army – but the car it became looked even less likely to bear the green-and-gold badge. In the Sylvester Stallone film "Judge Dredd", Land Rover is the only surviving car manufacturer, and its futuristic yellow City CABs are regularly prowling around. Under the space-age skin, though, those City CABs were humble 101 Forward Controls.

Imagine a Land Rover crossed with a tank. We can only presume that that was the thought running through the head of James Cuthbertson when he created the tracked Series II. The Scot put four sets of tracks in place of the standard wheels, then the military used them to go where no heavy, lumbering tank could get to. Just 20 were built, each with a top speed of just over 20 mph (32 kph).

You just kind of knew that Lara Croft would have a Land Rover, but her Defender was way cooler than most of the aristocracy’s tatty tow cars. Kitted out with an external roll cage, sand ladders, and a hood-mounted spare wheel, Croft’s Landie was probably the ultimate Defender. It was so cool, in fact, that Land Rover did a special edition road-legal Defender to celebrate. Sadly, it didn’t come with quite so much awesome paraphernalia.

When Land Rover announced that the Defender’s days were numbered, a special edition beckoned. In fact, three special editions were created, but the Heritage Edition has to be the coolest. Harking back to the original Series I, it included the minty green paint, as well as a small badge replicating the first Land Rover’s number plate, HUE 166.

Product placement has become the norm in James Bond films, from his blatant plug for Omega watches in "Casino Royale" to sipping Heineken in "Skyfall". As in many previous films, Jaguar Land Rover products played a starring role in "Spectre", with a memorable car chase involving Defenders, a Range Rover Sport SVR, and a Britten-Norman BN2 Islander (that’s the plane that meets its untimely end in an Austrian barn). Just 10 Defenders were built for the film, and not all survived, but some are registered and road-legal.

Held annually between 1980 and 2000, the Camel Trophy was an off-road competition famous for its sand-colored Land Rovers. Jeeps were used in the first running of the event, but from then on, it was Land Rovers all the way. Once they’d been used, Land Rover stripped them of their kit and sold them on, but some survive, restored to their former glory by zealous owners.

The spiritual successor to the Camel Trophy, the G4 Challenge, saw Land Rovers pitted against each other once more, only this time, they were orange. Just two events were run, in 2003 and 2006, with the 2009 event cancelled due to the financial crisis. A healthy number of the 297 vehicles used still survive in private hands, and there’s even an owners’ club.

When the SAS decided to take Land Rovers into Oman, there was only one color they could choose. Pink. Apparently, the color was the most effective camouflage in the Middle Eastern desert, but it gave rise to the unsurprising nickname of Pink Panther (or Pinkie, for short). But if you thought these Landies were cute, you were wrong. They featured SAS-spec optional extras, including machine guns, smoke grenades, and rifle stowage boxes.

Way before Land Rover came up with the divisive Evoque Convertible, James Bond had already had a run-in with a drop-top Range Rover. Used to tow a horsebox with a jet plane inside, the Rangie featured in the opening sequence of 1983’s Octopussy, starring eyebrow raising enthusiast Roger Moore. A few people tried lopping the top off their Range Rover, but it wasn’t until 2015 that Land Rover came up with one of their own.

Some of the most important vehicles on an airfield are not the aircraft tugs or those funny little tractors that deliver your luggage to the wrong carousel, but the fire vehicles. So when the RAF wanted a new rapid response rescue vehicle, they wanted the best. What they got was a six-wheeled Range Rover with a ladder on the roof and some lights. A few of these ultra-cool yet ultra-righteous vehicles survive on modern airfields.

In 1971, the quintessentially British explorer, Major John Blashford-Snell, led a small expedition from Anchorage, in Alaska, to Tierra del Fuego, at the southernmost tip of South America. Two Swiss-market Range Rovers were used to complete the 18,000-mile (28,970-kilometer) journey, which included the infamous Darien Gap’s treacherous jungle. Both cars survive to this day, as does Blashford-Snell, who turned 82 on October 22. Here’s to you, sir!