Velar hill rally 1971

[Nick W]

Sorry no minis here ,this was a 4x4 rally , back in 1970 our then director had one of the first range rovers in Yorkshire
he was invited to take part along with a few other RRs ,it was prepared for this in our place Snuffmill Garage,you can see our name on the side at 4.15 ,god nows what they were doing with the exaust
the winner was a works entry driven by Roger Crathorne .this range rover was recently restored by land rover and presented to Roger .
another of the range rovers was YVB 153H ,one of the first preproduction range rovers ,it was a nice blue colour ,and was used for the 1970 motor show ,and press pictures ,
the event was filmed for the show "Wheel Base, the for runner to top gear ,they used a chopper for some of the filming getting very low over some of the landrovers!
I also have colour film of this showing YVB 153H pulling one of the others out of a ditch ,but cant seem to up load it .
other interesting entry were a few Halflingers and six Wilis Jeeps
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp1Al6 ... gh2vpys4YA

[Nick W]

Rodger Craythorne on the right won the event in the red Range Rover.
YVB 166H was found in a lock up in Wales, and was restored by Landrover at great expense.
In the colour film YVB 153H the blue Range Rover can be seen pulling another competitor out of the mud , this was a pre production vehicle built in 69, infact this was the first Range Rover built!.

[mk1]

Brilliant!

[Nick W]

Have now uploaded some colour Cine Footage of this Hill Rally.
For any Railway enthusiasts, the start point of the film is shot in the now restored Llangollen railway station, now a heritage site.

https://youtu.be/ziWFYwd8dfw

[mk1]

Thanks for sharing Nick.

I have a real soft spot for the MK1 Range Rover. It was a real game changer. Great footage too.

[Nick W]

The green range rover which our garage entered HWA 576J. Was last taxed in 2007, now painted white. I would be interested in finding this vehicle...hope it's locked away some where!.