CTE 2002
Camel Trophy Museum
   

Opening Camel Trophy Museum!

Hoewel niet echt een club activiteit, wilden we dit toch op deze site plaatsen. Een aantal van onze leden ontvingen een uitnodiging om bij de opening aanwezig te zijn. Onder hen Mark en Gerard als eigenaars van een originele CT-auto, vergezeld door Jaap en Matthijs. Jaap was bereid om hiervan verslag te doen, waarvoor onze dank.

 


The Lake House Estate in Ellesmere

Jaap’s first report for the CTE.

The Camel Trophy Owner Club (CTOC) sent an invitation to all its members to join the opening of the camel trophy museum in Ellesmere and next day Off Roading!!
I’m not a member but Mark en Gerard are, so this was a nice opportunity to meet the Owners. The Museum was in private hands of Mike Robson, and is situated at the Lakehouse Estate in Ellesmere. An unbelievable nice ground where Mike lives with his family. The four of us were really amazed by the beauty of the house and the nice English garden.

I was lucky to have a job in England so I was able to come over. I looked to the route planner and the route from Poole (where I had a job) to Ellesmere was reasonable.It’s all about my first experience with the people of the Camel Trophy owners club. I was a little sceptic about the event when I started my trip from Poole to Ellesmere. The trip started ok but after a couple too much roundabouts I started to got sorry for not listening to Steven who told me to take the motorway via London what looked a long detour to me when I looked at the map. But it wasn’t was the conclusion after I finely came in Ellesmere after covering less than 400 km in more than 7.5 hours!!! But I was just in time fore the opening of the camel trophy museum!!

The happy owner of the museum got several original Camel Trophy cars, including the team vehicle of the Dutch team of 1987. Yes a real Range Rover 4 door or what was left of it. Of course the job of rebuilding was taken a bit literally. We think that the completed car is blessed with new panels. Also we were missing the nice holes in the dashboard to fit the roll-cage. The rear panel had a cover for the tank cap and the roof ladder looked originally also slightly different. Also we missed the stickers of the Dutch flag and the names of the drivers on the hood that reminds us of the guys who drove the vehicle during the event. But I must say the car looked like a million dollars.
Later on we learned that this car never took part in any Camel Trophy, it was used for selections only.
Also the other cars looked very good, just like the Range Rover completely rebuild.
All the cars were shown in the museum including some pictures on the wall. It all looked good and the champagne tasted good.


Ian Robinson		 After some time Ian Robinson, an enthusiastic photographer, started a story about a mine clearance team which is operating in Bosnia. He covered a story about the team and is now raising money to buy them a really needed 110. (I already heard he found a good one fore a nice price).There was an auction in which they sold a lot ‘ex-Trophy participants goods’ like coats, shirts etc. Ian had some signed books and some of his own pictures, taken during the event.There was a lot of money raised and most of the participators weren’t scared to spend some money for the goods and the charity.   BBQ was next on the program. This was super! Good work hosts!

The BBQ was a good opportunity to speak with the people of the CTOC. I must say they are really nice people. Ian afterwards showed us slides he made in Bosnia and during the camel trophy selection and the events.

We finished the day with a lot of beers and went to bed.

Next morning there was off-roading on the program, but we started with a breakfast and a photo shoot of the Camel vehicles (21 totally). It was a long drive to the off-road track and when we finally arrived, it was not what the entrée price did suspect.   For all the world to see, proof that we were really there. You’ll find our signatures on the bonnet of a Discovery hanging on the wall in the museum.
Long line of cars   We drove in a line of cars with a ranger in front and there were more pictures taken than meters covert. So after two hours we decided to take off. Mark, Gerard and Mad Eyes wend back to Holland and I headed fore Poole.
 

When I look back it was a well spend weekend with a lot of fun. It was very nice to meet the people of the CTOC. But I hope the next time they are in for some more serious off-roading.

Jaap.

Can you see me??