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Eye-catching black and whites


forddeliveryboy

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Absolute scenes in the Darien Gap 1971. The British Trans Americas Expedition was a Top Gear-esque trip from Alaska to Cape Horn, taking six months, three of which were absorbed in crossing the aformentioned Gap. The main reason for using Range Rovers was to publicise the newly launched vehicle. 

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The team, who were largely drawn from the British Army acquired a Land Rover to use as a pathfinder for the Range Rovers. This originally had a roof which fell off after numerous roll overs.   

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The Darien Gap is an area of uncharted swampland roughly the same as size of Wales situated in Central America. Several expeditions have been mounted, so you probably can't walk six feet with tripping over a bit of broken Land Rover or Jeep, but there is still no route through the wilderness. Much like mid-Wales in fact.

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Don't soil that remarkable feat by association with 3 middle-aged berks off the TV, the people involved deserve better than that; the period-appropriate analogy would "Boys' Own adventure". They made their way through trackless wilderness which is still regarded as basically impassable.

1 hour ago, warch said:

The British Trans Americas Expedition was a Top Gear-esque trip from Alaska to Cape Horn, taking six months, three of which were absorbed in crossing the aformentioned Gap. The main reason for using Range Rovers was to publicise the newly launched vehicle. 

 

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23 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Don't soil that remarkable feat by association with 3 middle-aged berks off the TV, the people involved deserve better than that; the period-appropriate analogy would "Boys' Own adventure". They made their way through trackless wilderness which is still regarded as basically impassable.

 

Apparently a few vehicular crossings had been achieved prior to this, including a Brazilian duo in Model T Fords, two chaps driving a Jeep and a Land Rover in 1959 and a team incongruously using Chevrolet Corvairs in 1961. 

It was a pretty dangerous undertaking, five local guides drowned during the 1971 expedition and the Range Rovers munched their way through differentials at an impressive rate, so yes I do take my hat off to them for trying it.  

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2 hours ago, somewhatfoolish said:

That's the face of job satisfaction there; "I'm on the edge of going full Patrick Bateman and a harmless photographer might just be the trigger event". At least in a 1300 Simca the rampage will be quite sedate.

I thought he was looking a bit embarrassed, as if he'd told his friends that  he was one of the trusted few working on the 'soon to be a run-away success' new executive  luxury Tagora and then along came the local press...

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I don't know.  Must try harder.

In my mind there were 4 possible scenarios - Imp, Maxi, Landcrab 1800, or maybe VW Beetle / Type 3  derived.

Deserves further investigation.  I don't think many were made.  Just look at that fab steering wheel though.

Getting into it via the roof every time must have been a bit of a PITA.  And getting out.  Not ideal for taking your gran to the shops.

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On 2/19/2021 at 3:59 PM, JeeExEll said:

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Pininfarina design proposal for the Morris ADO28, which became the Marina.

Looks a bit like what a Fiat 131 would have looked like had one appeared in Trumpton.

Pininfarinamarina.  An opportunity lost.  That was meant to be  :-)

Sadly things took a different direction and it didn't happen, but what a fantastic bootlid badge that would have been - in chrome script right across the bootlid.

That's the design Harry Webster said looked like "a bloody goldfish bowl" Not dated or provincial enough looking for his tastes I guess. 

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