Issue 12 - March 1997

Geof Miller, ARC Press & Publicity
Brandlehow, Wolverton, Stratford-on-Avon CV37 0HF
Tel: (+44) 1789 73 1669

Editorial

ARC News No.11 will go down in history as the first to be issued to all of the Rover Clubs' membership, well at least some of it, because only 8 clubs had supplied their membership lists!

I now pass my master copy to Andrews Neaves, who then runs off a set of address labels, and takes it all into Lode Lane. Here several thousand (eventually) copies are printed, and then these, together with the labels, are sent off to a mailing house, where envelopes are filled and stamped and you receive your copy a couple of days later.

I have submitted to Andrew a "Priority Mailing List" of club officials and delegates, so that if your club is not taking part in the scheme, you will still see ARC News via your own club newsletter. If you are not getting your own copy of ARC News, chase up your committee and find out why.

Building for the Future

Initial discussions, by the Scrutineering Committee, on implementation of the Future Competition Policy, have produced a plan to take us forward in 1998/9. New classes of vehicle will be introduced, alongside existing classes, to cater for basic vehicles as built by the factory, entering, initially, Road Taxed Vehicle trials. Once this is achieved, similar principles will be adopted for Comp. Safari classes,
A conference of car and Land Rover clubs classified as "non-competitive" was held at Appleby Parva on Feb 2nd, attended by representatives from The Rover Sports Register, Series I Register (47-51), Series I Club, Series II Club, 101 FC Club & Register, Forward Control Register, Lightweight LRC, and Nottingham LRC.

As a result of this conference, a sub-committee was formed, which held a further meeting at Appleby, and has elected Chris Savidge, Chairman of 101 F.C. Club & Register, to be its Council Member. A vacancy still exists on Council for a Car Clubs Liaison Officer.

ARC Handbook

Handbooks have been issued to all Clubs' Secretaries, so if you want a copy, get in touch. They will generally be available at club functions, or by post if you supply a self-addressed C5 envelope with a 55p stamp.
One or two items in the Handbook managed to slip through the proof reading, so listed below are three corrections received from Steve Kirby:-
1. The revised long wheelbase classes for Trials were not updated in accordance with the changes agreed at the 1996 AGM.
  Class 5 should now be split into Leaf-sprung and Coil-sprung vehicles as shown below
  
  Class 5a
  
  Standard LWB Leaf Sprung. LWB, LWB V8, petrol, diesel and diesel turbo. Forward controls various, petrol.
  
  Class 5b
  
  Standard LWB Coil Sprung. One Ten, Range Rover and Discovery petrol and diesel turbo.
2. Trophies 16 to 25 were left out of page 149 due to a printers error. These are as per the 1996 Handbook, except for the following which have changed or are new:-
  
  20 MITCHIN INDUSTRIES TROPHY
  
  Presented to the driver of the Range Rover with the lowest score in the CCV Trial.
  
  26 BRECKLAND LAND ROVER CLUB TROPHY
  
  Presented to the club with the lowest average score in the RTV Trial. This is calculated by adding together the total scores of all entrants for a club and dividing by the number of entrants. Non starters are not included, but retirements are, with the highest available score for each section being awarded for all sections not completed.
3. Handbook update:-
  Page 103, in the fire extinguisher equivalents table, a 0.9 litre AFFF fire extinguisher is given as the equivalent to a 1.5kg BCF/Halon unit. This has been increased to 1.75 litres of AFFF in the 1997 RACMSA Yearbook. The rest of the table is unchanged.

LARA News

A few updates for your 1997 ARC Handbook - the latest group to join LARA as Associate Members, the national Federation of Off-Road Driving Schools, has changed its name to the British Off-Road Driving Association (BORDA). They have about 44 member companies who are corporate event organisers.
LARA's Information Officer, Tim Stevens, has moved house. His new address is -
99 Cheshire Street,
Market Drayton,
Shropshire TF9 1AE

Phone 01630 657627
Fax 01630 658928
Email timLARA@aol.com

He can usually be contacted 9am - 5pm and in exceptional circumstances up until 9pm particularly with regard to the LARA voluntary restraint scheme.
Caroline Garfield has 'retired' from the post of MRDO at LARA's HQ. Telephone calls and post are being redirected to Tim Stevens pending the appointment of her replacement. Watch this space.
This year's LARA conference takes the form of a short series of three national workshops on the theme "planning policy guidance - making it work for everyone". They will all concern the use of land for motorsport and will not include rights of way issues. The likely dates are April 15th,17th and 22nd. At least one ARC club is participating. Competitive clubs should try to have a representative at one of the workshops if at all possible, seats cost £25. Full details from Alan Kind on 0973 333918.
National Green Lane Day 1997 will very soon be upon us. If you haven't got anything in mind for the 23rd March and wish to assist with voluntary clearance or repairs on a public right of way in your area, contact either your local county rights of way section or Andy Bush, the national co-ordinator for the project. Offers of assistance will be gratefully received. Andy can be contacted on 01634 260495 and would be pleased to receive reports of all work done.

ARC Sweatshirts

Bottle green sweatshirts are available embroidered with the ARC name and logo at a price of £15.00 each. Sizes are Small (34"-36"); Medium (38"-40"); Large (40"-42"); X Large (44"-46") and XX Large (46"-48") They are available, if pre-ordered, brought to ARC Meetings, or by mail order, UK only (for an extra £2.00) from:-

Mrs. Sandra Bourne,
124 Crescent Drive,
Petts Wood,
Nr. Orpington,
Kent BR5 1BE

Cheques should be made payable to ARC.

Events 1997

ARC International Rally
North Wales LRC are now including a Gymkhana in the programme of events;

If you are interested in entering, contact Alan Brown, Entries Secretary on 01248 352645.

If a full week of off-roading takes your fancy, North Wales LRC and David Mitchell's Landcraft have got together to lay on further off-roading days to follow-on from the Rally. These will take place on Wednesday 28th May through to Saturday 31st May, either at Bala or Lake Vyrnwy, and cost £20 per vehicle per day. Also on Wednesday evening there will be a video/film evening at Landcraft HQ at Bala (the Plas Yn Dre Restaurant, High Street). All of these locations are easily reached from the follow-on rally at Tywyn.

International Rally clothing is also available, either by mail order before the event, or to be collected at the event at the NWLRClub Shop. Tee Shirts, Polo Shirts Sweatshirts, Sweaters, Bodywarmers etc and Children's wear are available, for price lists and order forms contact:-

David Mitchell
ARC 97,
Plas yn Dre,
High Street,
Bala,
Gwynedd LL23 7LU

Tel: 01678 520820

Last year's trophy winners, don't forget that ARC Secretary John Bradbury needs all the trophies back for this year's event, so please get them to him as soon as possible.
Land Rovers of Switzerland 1st/3rd August 1997
The Club celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and is holding a celebration rally at St. Stephan in the upper Simmental, Bernese Alps. The event will include concours, road tours, evening entertainment, kindergarten, and superb scenery.

For more detail and entry forms, contact :-

Joachim von Cranach,
Aarestr.36,
CH-3627 Heimberg,
Switzerland

Phone (+41) 33 4373741
Fax (+41) 33 4376747
Porthmadog 97
If North Wales LRC can find enough energy after the International Rally, they will be laying on their usual Porthmadog extravaganza over the August Bank Holiday 22nd-25th August. Details will be available soon, or you can pick up details at the International Rally at Llangollen.
All Rover Rally, Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon 21st/22nd June 1997 Heritage Motor Centre have agreed that for 1997 they will operate a "Grounds Only" ticket system, allowing entry to the display arena and outside facilities for only £1 per adult per day, 50p children. The driver of a display vehicle gets free entry.
The centre piece of the Range Rover Register display will be a celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Trans-Americas Expedition. The two "Darien Gap" Range Rovers will be on display courtesy of the Heritage Motor Centre and the Dunsfold Land Rover Trust.

On Sunday 22nd, HMC are sponsoring 'Rover Marque Day'. All Rover owners are invited, including non-ARC clubs, for a record-breaking (?) day of Rover nostalgia.

For details contact Frank Smith on 01203 596365.

Events 1998

You may have read in the past about Land Rover Eurolink, who have organised Land Rover events in Europe in the last few years.
They are now planning a big rally for the Land Rover 50th year celebration, to be held at Kaiseresch near Nürburgring in Germany. It will be held during the first or second week in August 1998 and will involve the two German clubs, and other clubs from Holland, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France (and UK?).

For more info, contact

Krister Bergknut,
Box 351,
N-1401 SKI
Norway

Tel +47 88 00 4203
Fax +47 64870059
Email krister.bergknut@postbox.postnet.se or Quality@bergknut.no
The Land Rover Series I Club 50th Anniversary Rally at Shugborough Hall near Stafford. If Trade or Clubs would like a 'stand' at this event, get in touch with Tony Noon on 01626 834620.

And finally - AS OTHERS SEE US.....

In the February 1997 issue of "old glory" magazine, Jim Wilkie reported in his 'Jim's Jottings' column, on a recent visit to see an ARC Land Rover trial as follows:-

Muddy Rovers

Of course, ex-Army Jeeps soon got pressed into service on farms. In turn they inspired the Land Rover, introduced in 1948 and still going strong today. Not all surviving old Land Rovers are carefully cherished vintage examples. An invitation from a Land Rover Owners Club drew me to see one of their trials. They are not joking when they say they try them out. The most spectacular action was coming from much modified examples being driven with what seemed reckless abandon. These were clearly modified to cope with slippery conditions under foot and the steep sided gullies.

To a vintage enthusiast, though, the Road Taxed Vehicles were even more impressive. Standard, straight from the farm Land Rovers were tackling obstacle courses that were nearly as difficult. Compared with the roar of a V8, it was far more impressive to hear an old two litre petrol, or even early diesels, attempting the same tasks. It took me straight back to cattle feeding on the farm using a battered 1950 Land Rover to plough through muddy gateways to get the feed out to over-wintering cattle. It is rather amusing to find that what we thought of as just another job is now classed as entertainment. Incidentally, if you have ever worked with a Land Rover can there be any more evocative smell than wet mud and grass drying on the exhaust pipe?

Puts things into perspective, doesn't it?

My thanks go to Jim Wilkie and to 'Old Glory' editor Brian Gooding for permission to reproduce this item. You can get 'Old Glory' and its sister magazine 'vintage commercial vehicle' at WHSmith and other good newsagents, or direct from

CMS Publishing,
Bullimores House,
Church Lane,
Cranleigh,
Surrey GU6 8AR

(up, back to issue 11, on to issue 13)

Disclaimer, November 1997

Last Updated:
30/12/2005