Camel Trophy

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The Camel Trophy was a vehicle-oriented competition that was held annually between 1980 and 2000, and it was best known for its use of Land Rover vehicles over challenging terrain. The event took its name from its main sponsor, the Camel cigarette brand.

Camel Trophy Land Rover Defender 110 '91 Tanzania-Burundi Communications Unit

Vehicles[]

The Camel Trophy originated in 1980 with three Jeep-equipped German teams exploring the Amazon Basin. After that first event, the organisers turned to Land Rover for support and over the course of the next twenty years, all of the Land Rover vehicle range were used. Range Rover, Land Rover Series III, Land Rover 90, Land Rover 110, Land Rover Defender, Land Rover Discovery, and Freelander vehicles all appeared in the distinctive "sandglow" colour scheme.

The vehicles were heavily modified by Land Rover Special Vehicles with a range of expedition, recovery, and safety equipment, including:

  • Safety Devices roll cages
  • Under body protection and steering guards
  • Modified electrical systems
  • Winches
  • Dixon Bate tow hitches and recovery points
  • Mantec snorkels
  • Transmission breathers
  • Michelin XCL or BF Goodrich Mud Terrain tyres
  • Upgraded suspension and transmission components
  • Auxiliary fuel tanks
  • Webasto fuel burning heaters
  • Brownchurch / Safety Devices roof racks
  • Hella driving, spot, fog, convoy and work lamps
  • Brownchurch Bull bars and bush wires
  • Flag poles
  • Event plaques, decals and sponsor logos (including Camel Trophy Adventure Wear/Bags/Boots/Watches, Lee Cougan, Perception, Sony, Scott USA, Safety Devices, Land Rover, Fjällräven, Warn, Malaysia Airlines, Superwinch, Royal Dutch Shell, Shell, Avon)
  • Expedition tools, Jerry cans, Pelican cases, Zarges boxes, high lift or New Concept air jacks, sand ladders, axes, ropes, drawbars, spades.
  • Garmin, Terratrip and other navigation and communication equipment

Generally speaking, except for support and specialist vehicles, the Land Rovers were only used for one event. Some competitors purchased their vehicles and many remained in the host country. Consequently, those vehicles that returned to the United Kingdom were highly sought after as they were low mileage - but they were "Camel Trophy miles". They were stripped of most of their equipment by Land Rover before they were released and restoring the vehicles to their original condition is expensive and time-consuming.

List of events and vehicles used[]

Year Location' Team Vehicles Support Vehicles[1]
1980 Brazil Ford U50's (License built Jeep CJ5's)
1981 Sumatra Range Rover Range Rover
1982 Papua New Guinea Range Rover Range Rover
1983 Zaire Land Rover Series III 88" Series III 109"
1984 Brazil Land Rover 110 Land Rover 110
1985 Borneo Land Rover 90 Land Rover 110
1986 Australia Land Rover 90 Land Rover 110
1987 Madagascar Range Rover TD Range Rover TD
1988 Sulawesi Land Rover 110 Land Rover 110
1989 Brazil Land Rover 110 Land Rover 110
1990 Siberia USSR Discovery 200tdi (3-door) Defender 110 & 127"
1991 Tanzania Burundi Discovery 200tdi One Ten
1992 Guyana Discovery 200tdi Defender 110 200tdi
1993 Sabah-Malaysia Discovery 200tdi Defender 110 200tdi
1994 Argentina Paraguay Chile Discovery 200tdi Defender 110 200tdi
1995 Mundo Maya (Guatemala and Mexico) Discovery 300tdi Defender 110 300tdi
1996 Kalimantan Discovery 300tdi Defender 110 300tdi
1997 Mongolia Discovery 300tdi Defender 110 300tdi
1998 Tierra del Fuego Freelander Defender 110 300tdi
1999 Event not held  –  –
2000 Tonga-Samoa Ribtec 655 Honda CRV and Defender 110 HCPU

Event results[]

Over the 18-year period in which the Camel Trophy featured Land Rover vehicles, Italian teams ultimately won the Camel Trophy three times - in 1982, 1984, and 1987. Teams from the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Turkey all won the Camel Trophy twice.[1]

Year Camel Trophy Winners Winning Competitors' Names Team Spirit Award Special Tasks Award Land Rover Award
1980 N/A Klaus Karttna-Dircks and Uwe Machel N/A N/A N/A
1981 West Germany Christian Swoboda and Knuth Mentel N/A N/A N/A
1982 Italy Casare Geraudo and Giuliano Giongo N/A N/A N/A
1983 The Netherlands Henk Bont and Frans Heij N/A N/A N/A
1984 Italy Maurizo Levi and Alfredo Redaelli N/A N/A N/A
1985 Germany Heinz Kallin and Bernd Strohdach Brazil N/A N/A
1986 France Jaques Mambre and Michel Courvallet Australia N/A N/A
1987 Italy Mauro Miele and Vincenzo Tota Spain N/A N/A
1988 Turkey Galip Gurel and Ali Deveci UK N/A N/A
1989 UK Bob Ives and Joe Ives Belgium N/A N/A
1990 The Netherlands Rob Kamps and Stijn Luyx Spain - Canary Islands N/A N/A
1991 Turkey Menderes Utku and Bulent Ozler Turkey Austria N/A
1992 Switzerland Alwin Arnold and Urs Bruggisser USA France N/A
1993 USA Tim Hensley and Michael Hussey Spain - Canary Islands France N/A
1994 Spain Carlos Martinez and Jorge Corella South Africa Spain N/A
1995 Czech Republic Zdenek Nemec and Marek Rocejdl Russia Czech Republic N/A
1996 Greece Miltos Farmakis and Nikos Solirchos South Africa Russia Greece
1997 Austria Stefan Auer and Albnecht Thousing Sweden N/A Mihai Mares and Manu Cornel, Romania.
1998 France William Michael and Marc Challamel South Africa N/A Spain

Camel Trophy's successor: the "G4 Challenge"[]

In 2003, competitors representing sixteen nations helped Land Rover fill the gap left after the demise of Camel Trophy. Surprisingly, the inaugural Land Rover G4 Challenge contained many of the elements of Camel Trophy 1998, which Land Rover had reportedly been disappointed with. The "ultimate global adventure" was a test of skill, stamina, and mental agility in four separate stages, each in a different time zone. The prize was a top-of-the-range Freelander or Range Rover. The winner Rudi Thoelen declined a Range Rover, and opted for two Defenders instead.

The 2006 Land Rover G4 Challenge promised to be tougher than the inaugural event and delivered a more vehicle-based focus. The competitors, working in bi-national teams faced thousands of miles of vehicle-based activity in Thailand, Laos, Brazil, and Bolivia.

The 2008-9 G4 Challenge, supporting the Red Cross and based in Mongolia, was cancelled in December 2008 in the middle of the selection stages due to the current global economic downturn. Land Rover were forced to end the event as a cost saving-measure to allow them to focus on product launches in 2009.

Odyssey: Driving Around the World TV series and Land Rover CPO[]

By incorporating their Certified Pre-Owned Brand into Camel Trophy spirited events, Land Rover sponsored an around the world expedition and television series in 2005. It was produced into a travel adventure television series titled "Odyssey: Driving Around the World" which first aired on the National Geographic Adventure Channel worldwide. Seven people drove 41,000 miles through 26 countries for over a year. The expedition was a fundraiser for Parkinson's Disease and also raised money for several organizations along the route. It followed the Land Rover tradition of keeping modifications to the vehicles at a minimum. These vehicles are sought after in the Land Rover community as there were only four in the series.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Camel Trophy Owners Club - One Life. Live It". Cameltrophy.co.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2012.

External links[]

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