Charlie Camel

Charlie is our 1996 Camel Trophy 110. He is the last of 4 "PVC" registered Camel Trophy 110's. As far as we can ascertain through intensive investigations (around the campfires at Land Rover shows), none of the "PVC" vehicles were used as event vehicles, but were used instead for publicity, training and maybe even pre-scout for the Mongolia event. Whatever it was that Charlie was used for, he bares the scars of a well used vehicle.

We'd both always thought about getting a Camel Trophy vehicle, growing up with pictures of Land Rovers getting to places previously untravelled and enjoying adventures you can only dream about in Southern England has a certain effect on you... . Sitting with members of the Camel Trophy Owners Club (CTOC) at the 2005 LRO show in Malvern could either of been considered a big mistake or the start of that chance of a lifetime. As usual at these events talk quickly turned to planned adventures and, slightly geeky it maybe said, to varying Solihul products. Back in 2005 we were already contemplating the possibility of travelling around Canada and America, albeit at that point from Ancorage to Florida concentrating mainly on the west coast. We were discussing the plans we had for Kylie, Dan's shiney Rioja Red 110 County Station Wagon, they included duel fuel tanks, a roll cage, winch bumper and winch, spot lights, jerry can holders and full underbody protection... those who know their Landy's will know where this is going! It only took a few seconds for Andy and Jane Chadwick (owners of Alice, the first of the 4 "PVC" vehicles) to point out all that kit comes as 'standard' on a Camel 110. We still havn't forgiven them ;)

CTOC quickly sprung into action and Guy, the Chairman, told us of a fellow CTOC Committee member who ran a Landy garage in Kent and that there was a rough 110 up for grabs. After making the relivant enquiries, we made our way to Kent to meet Nick Ledbetter at The Diesel Centre. He did us a deal that we couldn't refuse and besides, when you see a vehicle and you just know... well, despite being a bit rough around the edges, I knew! So money exchanged hands and a week later we took him home.

There was plenty of original Camel bits missing when we first got Charlie and he looked a bit silly on low profile 235/75 R16 tyres, the roof was green and the interior a mixture of dust and dirt. He'd previously been stored in a barn for about 6 months and we'd bargained with Nick before he'd had the chance to renovate him as that was the only way we could really justify the cost of a Camel Trophy. As soon as Charlie got home the work started, the tiny tyres were swapped the next day for some BFGoodrich 265/75 R16 Mud Terrains, slightly wider than the standard Defender tyres, but looking great! They were the perfect compromise between road use and the light offroading we wanted to have the option of doing. Although the original Camels were fitted with smaller Michelin's their road handling isn't renound for being the best and as Charlie is Dan's everyday vehicle and we were planning a trip of 20,000 miles it wasn't really a compromise we were prepared to make.

The other most obvious factor missing from Charlie as a Camel vehicle was the incorrect bumper and lack of bullbar. Nick Ledbetter came to the rescue again putting us in touch with another CTOC member with a bumper for sale, the CTOC forums got us the bullbars and the Hella spotlights can still be brought from new.

The bulkhead that sat behind the rear passenger seats was fabricted by Dan from some chequerplate and Andy, Alices owner, copied his rope box for the rear of Charlie. What a lovely bloke!

We had been lucky and all the really hard bits to get hold of such as the original Camel plates and terratrip were still inplace. The only one that was a bit of a risk was the numberplate. The previous owner had put a registration of 'L111 MUD' on Charlie, a superb Land Rover plate, but we really wanted his original "PVC". After countless phonecalls and pleading to the DVLA, they wouldn't tell us if the orignal plate was still available. We thought it unlikley someone would have requested that specific plate, but you never know with the replica Camels being popular. The only way to find out was to put the MUD plate on retention and pay our £105 hoping that the original plate would be reallocted. After an agonising week wait Charlie got his plate back :)

We're still missing the tank guard, original steering guard and sensors for the terratrip (ripped off when the propshaft broke away in a previous ownership), however most of our work on Charlie of late has been in preparation for our Overland trip to Canada and America, read more about Charlie's preparations here.