IN THIS FEATURE Arriving in Timbuktu The British are coming Number one with a bullet Land Rover gets it wrong Another kind of Land Rover adventure

In the 1980s, the vehicle's indestructibility pleased owners so much that they didn't buy new ones; Land Rover sales in Africa plummeted. "It was the time we were pushing into America with the Discovery and I think we took our eye off Africa," says Bill Begg, Regional Director for Land Rover in Africa.

Recently Land Rover has been pushing again to sell in Africa. Helped by the fact that African icons such as Nelson Mandela drive its vehicles, Land Rover is making a comeback. But not all Africans are clamouring to buy Land Rovers.

We spot a leopard from the safety of the charabanc

Land Rover South Africa was forced to sack its advertising agency and withdraw an advertisement which showed a bare-breasted Namibian Himba bushwoman whose breasts are pulled sideways by the power of a passing vehicle.

The South African Advertising Standards Authority ruled: "This is an insensitive portrayal of the Himba woman and the advertisement makes a mockery of African culture." The adverts highlighted the economic chasm forming between South Africa and the rest of the continent. Johannesburg had some of the swishest Land Rover dealerships in the world, selling £50,000 Range Rovers alongside safari clothing and espresso coffee.

But a decision to replace the most basic version of the original Land Rover Defender with a version reliant on a computer-controlled engine was potentially far more damaging to the company's African fortunes than an offensive advertisement.

"We were told in no uncertain terms by even our more remote South African customers that a vehicle that required an expert mechanic and a computer to fix was not suitable," says Paul Melhuish of Land Rover South Africa. "So although most other markets will get the new engine, in Africa we will still offer the original version."