Winter 2004 Rovers North News

Page 1

Winter 2004

Serving America's Enthusiasts Since 1979 With Land Rover Parts & Accessories

Rovers North

Range Stormer Concept Unveiled at the North American Auto Show on January 5

Invades England

The Land Rover Show At Billing

see page 3 for more pictures and information!

An old New Yorker cartoon pictures a man on the deck of an oceanfront home, gawking at the view while his roommates sip their cocktails. According the caption, he’s “The New Time Share,” and he’s pointing and yelling, “Look, a seagull!” That’s the way I behaved the moment my British Airways flight from Boston landed at London’s Heathrow Airport. As I unwound from the overnight flight and disembarked from the plane, I spotted one, then another, then another Defender 90 The Camel Trophy Owner’s Club’s impressive display. Commercial performing yeoman duty at the airport. Land Rovers were as ubiquitous as seagof four lovely Canadians: Jennifer Stadler, Adrianna ulls along the ocean – oh, yeah, I had arrived in Vanderneut, Rebecca Girling and Breanna England. Vanderneut. I knew they were jetlagged from their evident fatigue; I g in r has the turn ve o R Two years ago, knew they were much younger than I d n a L y M itanic and T Rovers North’s Les because they looked far less wiped out e th f o e cl cir f. o ro Parker attended and than I did. We packed into a rented rp ate it’s just as w spread the word in Defender 110 Tdi 5 Station Wagon for . ng seen at Billi mper stickers bu the Rovers North the two hour drive from London to y an m e th One of News. Again this Northampton, the site of Billing. year, Rovers North wanted to cover Billing, the largest Land Rover rally in the United Kingdom; I Billing lies along the River Nene and includes a begged, wheedled and cajoled, and before anyone series of man-made lakes and ponds. It has thouelse at Rovers North had the chance to object, I had sands of acres of flat land available for camping, landed the assignment. hundreds of acres of farm fields, mud holes, streams, and green lanes available for off-roading. Like any celebrity, the rally is now referred to by a There are the requisite food stands, shops, and persingle name, “Billing.” Like a football bowl game in manent shower facilities, but you could also secrete yourself away and never see them. A walk around the park would cover many miles and take several hours; I know because I tried it. Aside from camping (“caravanning” in England), boating and jet skiing, it’s popular with automobile, steam traction and similar events because of its size, organization, and proximity to southern England population centers. We had arrived the day prior to the formal opening, but already, there were sev101 Forward Controls were a visible presence at the show. eral hundred Land Rovers in place with the U.S., it has a longer formal moniker, “The Pirelli tents and campsites fully set up. For a DefenderLand Rover Enthusiast Show at Billing Aquadrome.” starved nation like the U.S., the volume of Defender Land Rover Enthusiast magazine, our partner in 90’s and 110’s was inspiring – and the event hadn’t print, has organized and operated this largest of even opened yet! Land Rover rallies for many years. This year’s show took place between July 18-20, and if nothing else, it reinforced it’s title as the world’s largest Land Rover event. Land Rover fans in the U.S. and Canada have enthused about Billing for years. The sheer scale of the event took your breath away. U.S. Land Rover club events bring 25-75 vehicles together. Over 100 vehicles have attended the RoverFest events in Killington, VT, in recent years. The Rarely seen in the States, a 109” fire truck probably served at an airport. National Land Rover Rally, run annually by the Solihull Society out of Colorado, entices over 200 Land Rovers to the Rockies. In Land Rover Enthusiast had a massive tent featuring 1998, the 50th Anniversary Celebration in Cortland, magazine and enthusiast products, as well as a sepaNY, pulled over 300 Land Rovers together. Nothing in rate tent housing the hugely popular Land Rover my U.S. experience prepared me for the thousands Cafe – along the with Starbucks at Heathrow, the of Land Rovers at Billing. only acceptable cup of coffee in all of Great Britain. Deplaning that morning at Heathrow, I linked Those two tents sat beside over 175 other tents and up with Kevin Girling, the North American corredisplays. Only the Pirelli tent, featuring their spondent for Land Rover Enthusiast, and his team

© 2004 Bruce MacDonald, courtesy of Land Rover enthusiast.

By Jeffrey Aronson

North to Canada, Part II By Steve Tipsword [Steve Tipsword is an avid member of the Blue Ridge Land Rover Club and a Range Rover Classic owner. In 2003, he took a 10,000 mile trip from Virginia to Inuvik, the province of the Canadian Arctic. Here's the second installment of his journey -ed.] At 4270 miles, we are in Pink Mountain British Columbia. We made our way through Prince George and out beyond to Dawson Creek, the start

of the ALCAN highway. On the road into Prince George, we saw five bears along the road. Tess, my dog, went mad at the sight of them. About 4:30 this morning she awoke in the tent and started barking again. I heard noises outside but paid no real mind to it since the camp is full of loose dogs. After the rest of the camp awoke, a fellow said we had four moose out behind the tent. We have a crew from the Celtic Reforestation Program in the camp. They have planted several million trees in the effort to restore the forests. We stopped in Dawson Creek long enough to have the oil changed and the tires rotated on the Rover. We used the last Rover oil filter they had; I really should have brought along a few extras [Remember to call Rovers North anytime -ed]. The Garmin continues to find all of the little sites along the route. This has been a very useful tool. Very late in the day we saw a huge owl, easily two feet tall, sitting on a post along the road. At 4800 miles we have arrived at Watson Lake on the ALCAN between Whitehorse and Dawson City. We saw moose, mountain sheep, caribou, and

more bears today. The weather has been very good. We spent the night along the ALCAN at a really nice campground. We had hopes for a cabin but the work crews repairing the road have taken all of the cabins. The weather has been cool and clear – for the most part. There have been several warning signs posted along the road of poisons in the area. We had only a few construction delays but the dust has been thick when we're in those areas. The snow melt around the McKenzie river sends great floods down the valleys and scours the soil out leaving only rock. The alluvial planes are massive. The timber is getting smaller and less dense. The original ALCAN has been replaced by newer road in most places. Consequently the mile [kilometer] markers are not accurate. As we travel along we see makers proclaiming “original mile post.” The food continues to be very good and very cheap. The pancakes at Buckinghorse were great. Tess continues

to have a wonderful time and hunts the woods and rivers as soon as she's out of the truck. The two hotels we've used have let her in. With luck, we'll be in Inuvik on Friday [Day 13]. Day 11 and who knows how many miles; I'm too tired to walk to the Rover and look. We stayed in a motel in Watson Lake last night as it rained smartly all night. We pulled out of Watson Lake around 07:00 and headed west towards Whitehorse. We had gotten as far as Johnson Crossing [about 80 miles shy of Whitehorse] when the Dodge travelling with me lost all power crossing a bridge. I can’t believe the good luck of having the truck fail and coast into a very nice camp. We called and arranged a tow to Whitehorse and repairs. While we waited we had a nice lunch and beer. It took Continued on page 4

Continued in the next issue

© 2004 Rovers North Inc • 1319 VT Route 128, Westford, Vermont 05494-9601, USA • 1-800 403-7591 or 802.879.0032 • email@roversnorth.com • roversnorth.com


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Winter 2004 Rovers North News by Rovers North - Issuu