We all have an image of Land Rover in our minds – stodgy, stiff-upper-lip British lux-mobiles that cater to the rich and famous. But the brand has just received some sweet, redneck-esque redemption. This comes in the form of “Farmkhana,” a riff on the popular Gymkhana videos put out by Ken Block and company.
The team behind this is Club86. They’re two friends, Richard Suckling and Fred Lewis. Both boys are based out of England, and they have access to a sweet blue 1986 Land Rover Defender 90, drones, cameras, and acres and acres of farmland. It’s a killer combo, and one that we’d like to see more of in the off-road community.
Just like its namesake, Farmkhana hits a lot of the same visual beats. There’s minimal dialogue, heavy editing and post-production work, multiple camera angles, and an amazing course for the driver to blast through (or, as the video calls it, “chooching”).
The Land Rover 90 in the video has a hopped-up, 2.5-liter turbocharged Diesel Turbo 19J. It's not the fastest thing on four wheels, and it overheats, but it makes a sweet symphony in the video.
In a way, it’s amusing. This is because we get the tongue-in-cheek references to Gymkhana, but interpreted on farmland. So instead of an AWD Focus screaming as it circles a wrecking ball in L.A., we get a 30-year-old SUV slowly doing a donut around a hay bale in the middle of England (presumably).
The driver – Fred Lewis – does an admirable job of navigating the obstacles he comes across. A scarecrow, trailer, and hay bales all try to flummox him, but he beats them, escaping with more than a few fender dings.
With several months of work behind it, Farmkhana really showed us what a couple of people can do when properly motivated. What was your favorite scene? Let us know in the comments below.