Camel Trophy

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Annual off-road rally, 1980–2000

title: "Camel Trophy" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["land-rover", "off-road-racing", "r.-j.-reynolds-tobacco-company", "20th-century-in-sports"] description: "Annual off-road rally, 1980–2000" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_Trophy" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Annual off-road rally, 1980–2000 ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Camel_Trophy_Land_Rover_Defender_110_.jpg" caption="Camel Trophy [[Land Rover]] Defender 110 '91 Tanzania-Burundi Communications Unit"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Camel_Trophy_1991.jpg" caption="A pre scout expedition in 1991 in [[Guyana]] to explore the route for the Trophy 1992 planned to happen there. The vehicles are [[Land Rover Defender]] 110."] ::

Camel Trophy was an off-road vehicle-oriented competition that was held annually between 1980 and 2000. It was best known for its use of Land Rover vehicles over challenging terrain. Occasionally called "The Olympics of 4x4", the event took its name from its main sponsor, the Camel cigarette brand.

Vehicles

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 cars 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 (skid plates) 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, making restoring the vehicles to their original competition condition expensive and time-consuming.

List of events and vehicles used

::data[format=table] | Year | Location | Team vehicles | url=http://www.cameltrophy.co.uk/ |title=Camel Trophy Owners Club - One Life. Live It |publisher=Cameltrophy.co.uk |date= |accessdate=2012-10-13}} | |---|---|---|---| | 1980 | Brazil | Ford U50's (License built Jeep CJ5's) | | | 1981 | Indonesia/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 | Indonesia/Borneo | Land Rover 90 | Land Rover 110 | | 1986 | Australia | Land Rover 90 | Land Rover 110 | | 1987 | Madagascar | Range Rover TD | Range Rover TD | | 1988 | Indonesia/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 (Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, 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 | | 2000 | Tonga-Samoa | Ribtec 655 | Defender 110 HCPU and Honda CRV | ::

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.

::data[format=table]

1998FranceWilliam Michael and Marc ChallamelSouth AfricaN/ASpain
::

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.

References

References

  1. "Camel Trophy Club - History".
  2. "A brief history of the Camel Trophy".
  3. (12 February 2021). "Gallery: Land Rovers in the Camel Trophy over the years".
  4. (14 May 2020). "Camel Trophy Adventure: The Olympics of 4x4".
  5. (3 February 2016). "The Camel Trophy Was Land Rover's Tastefully Adventurous Overland Challenge".
  6. "Camel Trophy Club - Transamazonica 1980".
  7. "Camel Trophy Club - Vehicles".
  8. (12 October 2021). "An Original Camel Trophy Land Rover Defender".
  9. "Camel Trophy Owners Club - One Life. Live It". Cameltrophy.co.uk.
  10. (6 December 2020). "Camel Trophy Chat episode 1: What it takes to be selected for Team UK". Camel Trophy Club.
  11. (6 December 2020). "Camel Trophy Chat episode 2: Camel Trophy is not a race... So what is it?". Camel Trophy Club.
  12. (6 December 2020). "Camel Trophy Chat episode 3: From Outer Mongolia to the middle of the Pacific". Camel Trophy Club.
  13. (21 March 2021). "Camel Trophy Chat episode 5: Team Italia". Camel Trophy Club.
  14. "Camel Trophy Club - Papua New Guinea 1982".
  15. "Camel Trophy Club - Brazil 1984".
  16. "Camel Trophy Club - Madagascar 1987".
  17. "Bob and Joe Ives awarded the 1989 RAC Segrave Trophy".

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land-roveroff-road-racingr.-j.-reynolds-tobacco-company20th-century-in-sports