Land Rover North America’s Certified Pre-Owned division said farewell to their sponsored LONGITUDE Expedition team today in classic Land Rover style.

The nine-member team, driving four certified, pre-owned 2003 Land Rover Discovery vehicles, drove off to honks and cheers from the assembled Premier Auto Group employees in front of Ford Motor Company’s offices at One Premier Place. Land Rover North America is a division of Ford’s Premier Auto Group, along with Jaguar, Volvo, and Aston Martin.

The send-off was the second formal farewell for the team, who officially launched from the Parkinson’s Institute in Sunnyvale, Calif., Saturday.

“We had our official launch at the Parkinson’s Institute, since they are the people we are doing this for, and we had another send-off at Land Rover Certified, since they are the people who are going to get us from start to finish,” said Nick Baggarly, expedition leader and Drive Around the World founder.

The event gave the team members an opportunity to speak to the media and the gathered crowd about why they are compelled to quit their jobs, pay $10,000 apiece, and live out of a Land Rover for nine months.

“When we returned from our last expedition around the world, it wasn’t, ‘Oh, great, you just drove around the world in three months,’ it was, ‘Welcome home, and, bad news, your sister and Todd’s father have Parkinson’s Disease,’” said Baggarly. “We just felt helpless.”

Nick says that feeling of helplessness turned into a feeling of empowerment when his wife, Chanda, suggested that they do a drive-a-thon to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research.

“That one suggestion turned into a year-and-a-half of hard work,” said Baggarly. “Thanks, Chanda,” he joked.

Team member Todd Borgie’s father, coincidentally, was diagnosed at about the same time as Baggarly’s sister.

“Traveling is what I love to do,” said Borgie, whose initial reason for joining the team was simply to drive around the world. “But what I’ve realized, as the disease takes its destructive coarse, is that my own agenda is less of a drive to see the world and more of a drive for a cure. Every kilometer we drive is a kilometer closer to a cure, and that’s exciting.”

The team will spend four days at the Specialty Equipment Manufacturer’s Association’s annual show in Las Vegas before crossing the border into Baja, Mexico.