Range Rover Drives Across Paper Bridge to Mark 45th Birthday

9 years ago - 23 November 2015, Autoblog

It's safe to say that, over the past 45 years, Range Rovers have driven across a great number of bridges. Some were made of stone, others from steel, or wood, or even bamboo. But for its latest publicity stunt, Land Rover drove its flagship SUV over a bridge made entirely of paper.

Not paper that was stapled, glued, clipped, clamped, bolted, riveted, or otherwise reinforced by any other means. It wasn't even folded in any special way. The bridge was built out of an untold number of tightly-stacked sheets of paper, creating an arch spanning over 16 feet long and standing 11 feet high. Once completed, off-road driving instructor Chris Zhou drove a Range Rover Vogue with the supercharged V6 across it, marking a world first. Granted, the latest Range Rover isn't as heavy as it could be, thanks largely to its aluminum construction. But even so – and even with a V6 instead of a V8 or a diesel – we're still talking about the better part of 5,000 pounds of machinery here.

The feat was orchestrated by British artist Steve Messam in Suzhou, China – a city already famous for its bridges and known as "Venice of the East." It wasn't the first eye-raising feat pulled off in a Range Rover, and it surely won't be the last. But it's an impressive one nonetheless, and you can check it out in the video above.