1983 SIII Camel Trophy Information

[crankin]

I'm falling in love with this. So far this is all the information (from various forums) that I have found on the 1983 CT. Can anyone add to the specs and setups on the SIII SWB and on the support vehicles? I am particularly interested in the light guards and rack....any ideas on these?

Sandglow paint, semi-gloss black (local auto paint store). Body is Sunglow, front bumper painted black. The SIII Camel trophy Land Rovers did not have roll bars, snorkel or pioner tools mounted outside. The originals were German spec Similar looking to US spec) with 2.25L diesel engines.

Small Camel Trophy country team stickers were mounted to left hand rear window STK98 (see picture near top of this page)

Steel 16 inch wheels: ANR4636PM (5-1/2 " wide) ANR1534PM (6 " wide). 750X16 tires were mounted.

Sand ladders: GMN041 (pair): mounting kit 4-STMB product description

Genuine Land Rover work lamp was mounted to rear RTC8921AA

Genuine Land Rover 'D' recovery rings was mounted to top of front bumper 267950

Front of roof rack mounted a pair of 7 inch dia. lights 900DDCS Product description

A pair of rectangular fog lamps were mounted to the top of the bumper PRC8238 Product description

Both Waren 8274 and Ramsey DC-200 winches were used.

Jerrycans: gas GJC20, water 20WATERBLU, spout semi flex GJC002

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Could only imagine the pain from the landing on this one...
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[RoverForm]

The Series 3 was only ever used on one event which was Zaire 1983, and probably represented the most rag bag mix of vehicles ever seen on the Camel Trophy. The vehicles were all 2 1/4 litre diesel station wagons in both 88” and 109” wheelbase versions. Team vehicles were all 88” versions.

All were painted in sandglow with a black and yellow Camel Trophy decal on each side door, and a Land-Rover text down the side, which appears to be a cut down version of the Land-Rover V8 decal. Pressed aluminium Camel Trophy plates were fitted to the front bumper, which was painted black. A small Camel trophy plaque was fitted adjacent to the rear door, while a small Camel Trophy sticker in the top RH corner of the windscreen and to the LH rear window denotes the convoy number.

Wheels were standard 5.5Fx16 finished in Limestone, all of which were fitted with 7.50 x16 tyres, although at least three types were used. Some vehicles were shod with Dunlop T29A Trakgrips, some had Michelin XZY radials, whilst others had bar grips.

From the bumper up, all had auxiliary lights above the bumper, some of Lucas manufacture (as fitted to the Series 3 County) whilst others had lights of Hella manufacture. A number were fitted with framed mesh guards mounted to the bumper, and braced to the wing whilst others were not. In all cases these guards were fitted, front Jerrican mounts were also utilised. A roofrack was mounted on the 88” models with a rear door wheel carrier attached to it, which does not appear to have been fitted to all the 109s, although even these are not all the same. The roof racks had one extra Hella Rallye 1000 lamp mounted each side protected by weldmesh fitted to the front of the rack. Steel PSP was fitted to the sides of the racks. Rear lights were protected by the standard wire mesh basket lamp guards.

Winches included the Warn 8274 and the Ramsey DC-200 mechanical drum winch. Lifting and towing rings were fitted above the bumper and a rudimentary steering guard below. In at least one photograph the vehicle pictured can be seen to have a military spec bumper, whilst others did not. Some had Fairey freewheel hubs, some did not.

There were no fittings for pioneer tools, no roll cage and no bull bars. That aside it must be said that the Series 3 has a certain charm in its simplicity, and managed to go the distance without the later “essentials”.

It should be remembered that when this event was staged Camel Trophy had only been going three years and that Land Rover were not a sponsor. This probably goes someway to explain the highly varied nature of the vehicles.

Unfortunately only very few of these early vehicles still exist, the majority having been broken up long since. One famously went up in smoke on the event, but this was actually as a result of an accident a journalist had with a petrol stove, rather than a vehicle fault.

Here are the detailed technical specifications for the Land Rover Series III.

ENGINES

Type: 4-cylinder in line
Diesel
Capacity: 2,286cc
Bore x Stroke: 90.47 x 88.9 mm
Valves: Overhead, 8
Compression Ratio: 23:1
Fuel Injection: CAV, indirect mechanical.
Max. Power: 62bhp@ 4,000 rpm
Max. Torque: 103 lb-ft@ 1,500 rpm

TRANSMISSION
Type: Four-wheel-drive, or rear-wheel-drive, with choice of High or Low range
Gearbox: Four-speed manual gearbox, synchromesh on all forward gears
Clutch: 9.5 inch single dry plate.
Ratios
Top: 5.396
3rd: 8.05
2nd: 12.00
1st: 19.88
Reverse: 21.66
High-range step-down: 1.148
Low-range step-down: 2.35
Final Drive: 4.70

Suspension and Steering
Front: Live axle, by half-elliptic leaf springs, telescopic dampers.
Rear: Live axle, by half-elliptic leaf springs, telescopic dampers.
Steering: Re-circulating ball
Tyres: 600x16 cross-ply OR 750x16 cross-ply
Wheels: Steel disc, five bolt-on fixing

Brakes
Type: Drum brakes all round, hydraulically operated. Vacuum servo assisted as optional.

Size: 88: 10x1.5 inches drums all round

109: 11x2.25 inches drums all round

Dimensions

Track: 88: 51.5 inches front and rear

109: 52.5 inches front and rear

Wheelbase: 88 inches (Short)

109 inches (Long)

Overall Length: 88: 142 inches

109: 175 inches

Overall width: 66 inches

Overall height: 77 inches minimum

Unladen weight: 88: 2,953 lbs

109: 3,301 lbs

Diesel 4-cyl: add 144lbs

Seating Capacities: 88: 3

109: 3

88 Station Wagon: 7

109 Station Wagon: 10/12

88 'County': 6/7

109 'County': 12

109 V8- 10/12

and don't forget this gem:

[RoverForm]

Also...

Maybe this has been discussed ad nauseum, or maybe I just need to vent... but does anyone here truthfully feel that the G4 is as representative as the Trophy?

No disrespect to any members who have done the G4, but from what i've seen it appears to be more of a car show/reality show than a challenge.

I mean just compare the terrain and activities:

Camel Trophy: Sumatra, Papua New Guinea, Zaire, Brazil, Borneo, Australia, Madagascar (the first north-south crossing) and Sulawesi before returning to the Amazon, Siberia and the USSR, followed by Tanzania, Burundi, Guyana, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile (the "Road to Hell" event), Belize, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Kalimantan and Mongolia. That's some sough stuff right there.

For instance the 1995 Central America finale in Mundo Maya, two Discos are disabled and have to be pulled through a river by the participants, totally submerged.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMpaofHtLbo
Watch from 08:00

G4: Thailand, Laos, Brazil and Bolivia and included athletic activities such as mountain biking, kayaking, rock-climbing, abseiling, trail running and rope work? This sounds more like a yuppie holiday than a challenge. At least the partnership in 2007 with LR G4 Challenge and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies would have potentially generated more than £1 million from future challenges, but whoops, it was canceled after the 2007 event.

The G4 just doesn't have the same grit. Too polished.

Is there anything like the Trophy these days?

I think not... Maybe the G4 should see what Iain Chapman is up to.

[Wander]

Are you doing a CT clone build crankin? If so-sounds like a cool project. I wonder why they did not fit snorkles to the rigs in 83 as they had been fitted to LR's for a while in similar places. Great pictures-that leaping 88-OUCH!

RF- I don't think the G4 was ever meant to replace the CT but rather it was a challenge and a marketing tool. By adding the various other events it appealed to the multi-sport interest that is still popular. The G4 Disco's are impressive but not as impressive as the CT rigs. I've had the chance to look over a G4 Disco II and a CT110 at the same time-very different, but both impressive rigs. The 110 was a support vehicle used in Mongolia.

[amcordo]

They're going about it wrong.

With all the Camel Trophies it's been proven that the LR can handle pretty much any offroad challenge. A more accurate modern Camel with our cars wouldn't be through the Sahara, Siberia, or the jungles of the Congo. Rather, it would be a marathon through the US Interstate system - how many of our cars would make it 3,000 miles on that without being pushed off the road by an angry fast driver?

[crankin]

Are you doing a CT clone build crankin? If so-sounds like a cool project. I wonder why they did not fit snorkles to the rigs in 83 as they had been fitted to LR's for a while in similar places. Great pictures-that leaping 88-OUCH!

No. But there are elements to the CT rigs that I like and probably will implement some of them on mine. I just wanted to see all the information on them.

[LaneRover]

Great pictures-that leaping 88-OUCH!

The amazing part is that a heavily laden diesel made it off the ground!:D

[Wander]

The amazing part is that a heavily laden diesel made it off the ground!:D


Yeah, even the portly, pasty english kid can jump...a little.

[LaneRover]

Yeah, even the portly, pasty english kid can jump...a little.

That's why they keep the sweets up high - incentive

[TJR]

Great pics.. !! Thanks for sharing...

certainly better detail than this video..which is all I had ever seen from the '83 CT

HTJPGgaSq5E

[Boddington]

Awesome film! I've never seen that before. Is there a longer video?

[LaneRover]

Interesting take on 'The Good Bad and the Ugly' for the background music.

[ducttape]

great thread, great video

[Leslie]

This photo (of the incident in the video) seems to belong here, given it is a SIII CT....

[luckyjoe]

Sadly, that burning SIII was a CT 109" :(

[rickv100]

I seem to remember the picture of the Series 3 on its side (second one down) was used in Camel Cigarette ads.

Rick

[Triumphdaytona2007]

do the camel trophy rovers have the swing out rear door or the clamshell window and tailgate? its hard for me to tell in the pictures, in the video it looks like a swing out door

[bmohan55]

Whenever I see Rovers doing "real work" like this or the 4 part article a while back in the Rovers North about the "Across Africa" Series I feel a little silly taking mine thru the trails here in VA. (when it was running :D)

That's not to say that in my mind I'm somewhere far more exotic.

[crankin]

do the camel trophy rovers have the swing out rear door or the clamshell window and tailgate? its hard for me to tell in the pictures, in the video it looks like a swing out door

They had the solid swing out doors.

[luckyjoe]

They had the solid swing out doors.

Except for the ones that had a tailgate/clamshell! Seriously, go to Youtube and watch the videos - you'll see almost every variation including the 110 5-dr with a clamshell...

[Triumphdaytona2007]

Except for the ones that had a tailgate/clamshell! Seriously, go to Youtube and watch the videos - you'll see almost every variation including the 110 5-dr with a clamshell...

i was inquiring about the 88's, in the youtube videos it looked like the 88s had the swing out doors

[disco2hse]

Awesome film! I've never seen that before. Is there a longer video?

Used to be available on video. Out of production now but I have seen at least three versions of Zaire with different bits of footage.

[disco2hse]

No disrespect to any members who have done the G4, but from what i've seen it appears to be more of a car show/reality show than a challenge.

[snipped]

The G4 just doesn't have the same grit. Too polished.

Is there anything like the Trophy these days?

G4. Reality show it is. Maybe it was cancelled because the Amazing Race got better ratings. Life in TV land.

It is what happens when marketing people get hold of a good thing then clean it up, identify market segments, make it `edgy', signal market strengths, blahblahblah. It turns, .... well.... blah.

In the first three years from when Land Rover sponsored CT the numbers of people who wanted to be in the competition increased to over one million. It worked and they succeeded. In effect the marketing people failed.

Is there anything that compares, well there is the Rain Forest Challenge (http://www.rainforest-challenge.com/). Fairly low key but uber-tough. A friend of mine usually goes up there each year.

[disco2hse]

There was an article in LRM, August 2010 (http://www.lrm.co.uk/Back%20Issues/2010/2010.08.html) about a group reliving the camel experience.