The ‘98 Camel Trophy Scouting D1 – #landroverstory
It was luck really. I came across Darren’s Discovery at Gaydon Land Rover show, long before knowing he was on Instagram. Now, almost a year on I posted a photo of his immaculate D1 to my own account and through mutual friends he found his Landy there. There is always a different story to tell with a Land Rover and it’s owner and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to find out more on this Camel Trophy!
Darren Hodgson’s love for Land Rover began in 1973, driving round in the farm’s old Landy, a Series 2a, at 18 years old. In 1989 Darren started working for a local Land Rover garage as a mechanic and when on to be a senior technician right up to 2000. From there he moved into the office space, working for BMW Motorrad as a senior technician, but made sure that there was always a Land Rover parked out front and in 2019 Darren went back to JLR and currently works for them today. Darren’s enthusiasm for the brand did not stop at work and he takes on other roles in the community, being a committee member and show secretary for the Camel Trophy Club. This is how I first came across Darren and his Discovery 1 at Gaydon’s 2018 Land Rover show. His fully kitted, immaculate Camel Trophy D1 standing proudly at the front.
Let’s get straight into the vehicle…
The ‘P228KAC’ was built in 1997 to taken on the Camel Trophy event in Mongolia, but to Darren’s knowledge it never appeared on the shipping list, but he tells me this is not uncommon in the event that anything happened where team members should drop out or vehicles become damaged during transit, there would always be spare cars registered.
This Discovery was then shipped to South America to scout the following events in 1998. One of the first things that stood out about this Camel Landy was it did not obtain that golden yellow paint that we can all associate with the Camel Trophy. I had to ask why it was red! It turns out that a majority of the scout vehicles are different colours, as seen in the photos. Darren’s Disco still retains the Sandglow inside and under the bonnet and he believes that these Land Rover’s were painted by Land Rover in South America to celebrate the 50th anniversary. However, some say it is due to the of the cigarette brand’s discontinued involvement with the events in ’98.
How he caught the Camel…
There’s nothing like a proper good adventure on the build up to buying a Landy. Darren found his D1 in Lancashire after he saw an advert on the Camel club forum and immediately got in touch with the owner. That same night, Darren and a mate drove the 320 miles in his Camel tribute V8 Discovery. They arrived at the sellers doorstep at 8AM. Darren already had his mind made up that he would be driving the 300td Disco 1 back home to Hampshire and that’s exactly what he did.
What Darren did next…
As far as changes go, Darren has not made any, nor does he intend to, but being “mechanically unloved” for many years and with 123k miles on the clock, he has put a lot of hard work into getting it running the way it did 26(????) years ago. This included a new heater matrix, replacement cylinder head, water pump, cam-belt and repairs to the cooling system done by a company that specialises in Discovery resto, called Blackheale 4x4 – Devon. Darren has also done a complete overhaul of the transfer gearbox and fitted heavy duty propshafts, replaced all fluids and all wheel bearings.
The Discovery came with everything you could ask for from a Camel, leaving very little equipment for Darren to source to complete it.
What gear did (and didn’t) it come with?
When it comes to Camel Trophy or G4 vehicles, the specialised kit it comes with is in some ways more exciting than the events. Especially when a lot of the gear is still in tact today on a well-kept piece of Land Rover history. Which is exactly how I’d describe Darren’s D1. It use to be fitted with a communication system for the scouts, which Darren had discovered after finding the original wiring tucked away behind the dash. The Discovery is full Camel Trophy spec, RHD 300TDI (a great engine in the D1), with none-ABS and was built at none other that the Special Vehicles department.
It was fitted at some point with a comms system for the scout as I have found all the original wiring tucked away behind the dash. The car came back to the UK and was sold off by landrover and was used as a daily hack and has been known in the CTC club for many years but had been off the show scene for several years until I bought it.
The discovery is a full Camel trophy spec car built by special vehicles And comes with an extensive list the things us off-road lovers live for and more…
- Brownchurch bull bar with hella comet 550 lamps
- Safety Devices Roll cage with integral rear loadspace guard (fitted for radio type)
- Canoe(Kayak) & Mountain Bike Roof Rack
- Under body protection
- Scorpion Racing rock sliders
- Original Land Rover waterproof Seat covers front and back
- Roof Rack mounted Hella lights. & rear Work light
- 5 ton rear hitch
- 3.5 ton front towing hitches
- Mantec Snorkel. with extended component breather kit
- Rear Jerrycan holders and shelf
- Rear light protectors top and bottom
- Warn XD9000 Winch with Albright solenoids
- 11mm (red) synthetic rope and alloy fairlead
- Cassette Radio
- Most importantly, the vehicle is fitted with the original pacers and supplied Garmin GPS unit.
Being a huge enthusiast of the Camel Trophy challenge and Land Rover in general, he was bound to find something he could buy for his rover project… that’s all part of the fun! The Kiwi Perception 2 man kayak that is currently mounted to the roof had been found by pure chance not far from Gaydon! The gent that previously owned in worked for JLR and the kayak had been in storage for some time. It could even be the original from the exact vehicle as it matches the colour in all the early photos.
Darren’s advice to Camel hunters or D1 in general?
Darren has been in the Camel Trophy club for about 3 years, has owned Land Rovers since 1992, driven Discovery’s since ’89 (the perks of working for LR) and has owned a number of them for 10 years.
His advice for buying is simply to research what model you are looking and keep in mind the the vehicles vary on price depending on what part they have played in the trophy. Event cars maintain the best values. If they are over 25 years old, you could find yourself in a bidding war against other potential buyers looking to export.
There are also a lot of clubs out there on social media that can offer valuable advice for buyers and current owners of Camel Trophy vehicles. The club Darren is a member of also have a Camel tribute page for replica vehicles, so no one gets left out.
What is it up to now?
Being a significant part of Land Rover history, the Discovery no longer is used for any extreme off-roading and is very well taken care of, but still gets out on the green lanes. Although I write this during lockdown, if all goes well, Darren and his Disco plan to be back at the original Camel training ground at Eastnor Castle in October 2020, for the 40th anniversary reunion of Camel Trophy.
Darren keeps a positive outlook, saying… “It has and will attend many shows as all the Camel cars have a story to tell and hold great interest for Land Rover owners across the globe”.
