The unlikely partnership between Range Rover and Camel proved an immediate success.
With teams configuring their cars to survive the terrain, The Camel Trophy was characterised by the unique roster
and designs. At first, competitors were simply expected to reach the finish line, but as the Range Rover’s endurance
proved a spectacle of its own, they later introduced ‘Special Tasks’ that drivers had to complete for money and
prizes. With each new country, the best geologists, ecologists, and other experts would follow the drivers and
collect samples to bring back home with them, improving our understanding of the world and embodying the true Range
Rover spirit of the frontier-expeditionist. It also helped create communication lines between remote villages, where
medicine and supplies could be shared with natives.
Such was the hype surrounding the Camel Trophy, during the late nineties it saw over
a million applicants put themselves forward. And although you might have received compliments on how you scale a
dune (or swivel around muddy bends in Cornwall), not just anybody could take part. You had to show proficiency in
4x4 driving, but also embark on rigorous fitness tests that were designed to test mental, as well as physical,
fortitude. Because each entrant had to be an amateur driver, the final line-up would deliver unlikely racing heroes
like 1989’s Bob Ives, whose day job was in Australian politics.
Questions were asked about the competition’s safety in 1998, and by 2000 the Camel
Trophy was disbanded. But it only served to enhance Land Rover’s reputation as the true explorer’s off-road
companion. The very same family of 4x4 vehicles were once the choice of globetrotters Ernest Hemingway and Kingsley
Holgate, and whether you’re darting through the streets of London or Kinhasa, these classic shapes evoke — and often
encourage — that boyish adventurous spirit our everyday lives sometimes try to conceal.
It is why The Rake have long advocated for at least one Range Rover in a man’s
garage. It is also why we went as far as to collaborate with Bishop’s Heritage and Bamford on our very own limited
edition; modifying the original shape to suit our needs, just as participants did throughout the event’s history.
Ours is a Range Rover that seems handsome on first impression, but has the tenacity and daring of the Camel Trophy’s
finest, waiting for the driver to sit up in those 1960s racing seats, and take a long drive somewhere far and
perhaps somewhere a little unexpected.
The Rake x Bamford x Bishops Heritage Limited Edition
Range Rover will soon be available to purchase on TheRake.com.
REGISTER
YOUR INTEREST TO PURCHASE.
