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The Camel Trophy began in 1980 with three German teams driving Jeeps along the infamous Transamazonica Highway from Belem to Santarem in Brazil. Planned as a one-off promotional event, the Camel Trophy caught the imagination of all those who saw the images from this first journey. Subsequent events were held every year until 1998. A final waterborne Camel Trophy event was held in 2000.

The Camel Trophy grew from humble beginnings to become the most famous event of its kind in the world, a unique combination of adventure, expedition and competition. It spawned a "brand" inspired by the powerful "Camel Trophy Spirit" shown by those who participated in the events.

Camel Trophy often defies definition. Asked to describe Camel Trophy, the Event Director for ten years, Iain Chapman, used these words:

"Neither a race nor a rally, Camel Trophy was first and foremost an adventurous expedition. It did include an element of competition where participating teams could test their 4x4 driving and mechanical skills, endurance, courage, stamina, perseverance and resilience against the worst that nature could offer."

"The main emphasis of Camel Trophy was more toward testing human endurance and adaptability than pure competition. All participants were amateur and anyone, over the age of 21 from a participating nation could apply to take part – provided they did not hold a competition driving license or were full-time serving members of the military. The essentials were fitness, common sense and an adventurous spirit."

As the event developed over the years, thousands of hopeful candidates applied each year for the much sought after places. Each country had the responsibility of reducing national applicants to a final short-list of four. This was generally done along the lines of regional, district and national selection events lasting, variously, from one day to a week depending on the country concerned.

The four finalists from each participating country were eventually brought together to take part in the final international selections, a week of intense physical and mental scrutiny by an expert team of assessors, to decide which two national representatives were destined to take part in the forthcoming Camel Trophy.