Camp Rover
By Ed Aldrich and Steve Dick [Rovers North staffers Ed Aldrich and Steve Dick became tired of snow in April so they jumped into Steve’s Defender 90 and headed south to sunny Tennessee. Here’s their story of a terrific event -ed.]
T
he Easter Bunny looked like he would be snowed in for the month in Vermont and we kept hearing of warm temperatures down south. When Camp Rover USA called for off-roaders to learn and enjoy their Land Rovers, we jumped into Steve’s Defender 90 and headed for
Choosing a
Range Rover Classic
By Jeffrey B. Aronson
R
ange Rovers have been imported into the United States since 1987; grey market cars had found their way to the states in the late 70’s and
Monteagle, Tennessee, which is about 40 miles north of Chattanooga. Camp Rover USA lured over 70 Land Rovers over the long weekend of April 5 - 9 from Vermont to California, Virginia to Massachusetts. Many more Land Rover enthusiasts from the local area arrived daily to participate in the off road seminars and trail rides. This new organization, headed by Nashville’s Dan Cagle, sought to provide Land Rover enthusiasts from beginner to advanced, with the intricacies of vehicle preparation, off-road early ‘80’s. By mass market, automotive sales standards, a mere trickle - 1,500 - 2,000 annually - arrived on our shores. For some enthusiasts, the Series Rover has proven too utilitarian, too harsh, too risky for family use or too slow for commuting. What could these people, who care about excellence in engineering and off-road capability purchase that would grant them the Land Rover experience? The original Discovery might still be too expensive for enthusiasts also looking to use their cars off road, but the Range Rover Classic offers an ideal alterna-
driving, recovery and extrication techniques. While time was set aside each morning for group instruction and demonstration, most of our time was spent on miles of trails in the hills of eastern Tennessee in 90 degree heat. As added incentives to attend, the Camp Rover group invited Tom Collins, of Camel Trophy and Land Rover Experience fame, to lead instructional sessions in off-road driving and winching techniques. Finally, the organizers created events, from the trail rides themselves to a night navigation section and trails course that would culminate in the awarding of the Rover Trophy. The drive from Vermont took us 18 hours, which we spread out over two days so we could have a rest stop in Virginia. So we Continued on page 5
One Safari, Kid’s Size By Ladd Olson [Ladd Olson, Vinalhaven, ME, age 10, visit ed St. Kitts, Virgin Islands this spring with his father, Jack, and his mother, Angie, both of whom work in commercial fishing. A fisherman himself, Ladd worked as a photo journalist for Rovers North on this trip -ed.]
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’ve loved Land Rovers ever since I was young. My summer neighbor on Vinalhaven had an old Land Rover, a red Series III. And when I first met Jeff Aronson, he arrived on our island in his Series II-A Land Rover. My parents taught me more about Land Rovers after Jeff hit a horse with his Land Rover in 1996. My mother found this so funny that she used to put my rocking horse out in the driveway with a sign that read, “Don’t Hit Me,” whenever Jeff would stop by. My father taped a plastic horse onto Jeff ’s hood one day. I thought they were very funny. Except for rides in Jeff ’s Land Rover, I never rode on trails in one until we took a
The St. Kitts Water Services Department uses
tive entry into Land Rover ownership. Range Rover owners develop a strong bond with their cars. Andrea Letorney owner of
vacation in St. Kitts this March. We took a condominium with our friend, Sara Hopkins [her father once offered Jeff a bumper sticker that read “My Other Car is A Piece of ******, Too.”]. We spent most of ourContinued time ononapage 5
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