SPECIAL PROJECT: LAND TROPHY
Just over a decade ago, I don’t fully recall why exactly, I got it into my head that I wanted to buy a Jeep XJ Cherokee and build it for off road excursions. Considering that up until then, my automotive focus was mainly on slammed cars and not lifted trucks – and the fact I’ve never been on an off road trail, this was an unusual urge indeed. Nonetheless, I began to hit up Craigslist listings for some XJ goodness.
After obsessing over the boxy SUV for over a week, I proceeded over to the web to do some research on used XJs and inadvertently landed on a video that has captivated me ever since. This grainy video, accompanied by cheesy amped up 90s dance music, introduced me to an off road competition called Camel Trophy. Taking place annually over a span of twenty years from 1980 to 2000, Camel Trophy was an off road vehicle-based competition that was held all over the world and always over challenging terrain.
The video displayed a large group of yellow hued Land Rovers taking on some of the most inhospitable lands that the planet has to offer. Camel Trophy featured multiple teams of two, driving their off road rigs through places such as The Amazon, Siberia, Mongolia, Tierra del Fuego and Borneo.
The challenge was to make it to the goal while performing certain skills tasks along the way. Teamwork between your partner as well as your competition was of
