As part of its ever-expanding Special Operations division, Jaguar Land Rover Classic is now offering the public the chance to drive some of its most historic vehicles, both old and new, as part of a new experience day at Eastnor Castle.

Land Rover has a long history with the Herefordshire site, as many of the tracks that cross the estate have been used by the company to develop its four-wheel-drive systems through the decades. Now open for public experience, the day gives customers the unique opportunity to use either classic or modern Jaguar Land Rover vehicles on some of the 60 tracks that are spread across the 5000-acre estate.

It will come as no surprise that the old Jaguars won’t be able to take the off-road paths, but they can be driven on the roads surrounding the castle in the very picturesque Malvern Hills. 

Yours truly sampled Eastnor Castle's grounds in some of the cars on offer. Below, I count down my top five worth trying at the drive experience.

5. 2017 Range Rover Velar

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To be fair, it could be any of the newer Land Rover fleet but, as it was there, I went for the Velar. This was my first experience of the new Velar, which, contrary to its on-road bias, was away from Tarmac. True, it isn’t quite as easy as a Land Rover Discovery - blame the slightly reduced ride height for that - but by no means did it embarrass itself. In fact, the Velars have only been on site with for a couple of days, so the drivers are still getting to know them.

The Velar we drove was a D300 and had smaller 20in wheels shod with Michelin Latitude Sport 3 tyres (if you’re interested), compared with the standard 21in wheels HSE cars normally come with. At no point did I feel that I’d need to get the wellies I was wearing dirty; just keep your foot on the throttle and let the computers juggle the power around to whichever wheels have grip. If nothing else, it's useful to be able to compare just how the driving experience of a modern four-wheel drive compares with that of the classic off-roaders.