On April 25th 1999, Land Rover Scarborough, Maine's
only authorized Land-Rover dealer, hosted a "Wheels" event for
their customers and local Land Rover fans. ECR handled the event for them
and a great day was had by all.
Roughly 25 new and old Land-Rovers attended. Everything from Series IIA
88s to the newest Disco Series IIs were on hand. Here the group gathers
at ECR in the morning for a brief meeting and some basic driving instruction.
We then packed up the Rovers and drove to the Hope Expedition Center.
The narrow roads twisting through the mid-coast Maine countryside on such
a beautiful day is reward enough, but we also get to play on the HEC's
(Hope Expedition Center's*) dedicated Land-Rover off road trail sytsem!
Once at the base camp of the HEC (the acces road alone is like a 4 wheel
drive adventure) we had a driver's meeting and then hit the trail. Newcomers
to the off road scene had the chance to ride with ECR instructors in ECR
vehicles to get some first hand experience on what to expect, and those
who were ready to go hit the trail in their own Rovers.
With so many Rovers around the base camp took on the feeling of a car show,
as just about every type of Rover was on hand. In attendance were: Series
IIAs, Series IIIs, Range Rovers, new Range Rovers, Defender 90s, Discos,
Defender 110s, Disco IIs, Lightweights, Hi-Capacity pick-ups, and more!
We set up two trails in the HEC for this event. The first was a basic course
to teach vehicle control, and the basics off road driving, from steep hills
to loose rocks and mud. ECR guides were on hand throughout the course to
teach and guide the particpants (and to help them recover the vehicles
if they got stuck). In this image we see some of the Discos at the event
out on the winding basic trail.
Springtime in Maine means mud, and we had quite a bit of it for the weekend.
Here a Disco plows through some frame deep mud on one of the basic trails.
Most of these vehicles had street tires, and all things considered they
did very well.
Even the newest Rovers were out in force. This new Range Rover tackled
the trails and you should have seen the smile on the owner's face when
he found out just how far his vehicle could go off road. The ECR events
are made to push you to your limits and give you hands on instruction off
road.
The newest Discovery IIs were also on hand, and Land Rover Scarborough
even brought one for customers to try out around the trails. Here a Disco
II goes after a very muddy rut section. The nice thing about the HEC is
that all the trials are "closed loops". That means that if you
want to watch or get out and take photos you won't be left behind. All
the trails lead back to the base camp and you can spend your day doing
anything you desire, from hiking around to driving the trails. Only ECR
can offer you this sort of off road set up for your event.
Even the best driver's need a "tug" every so often. Here a new
Range Rover gets a little too bogged down and needs to be recovered. The
HEC is fully staffed by ECR guides, and a quick pull with one of our support
vehciles and the Rover is ready to try the rest of the trails. (Keep in
mind... these were the basic trails!!)
After a great catered BBQ lunch the group hit the trails again. This time
some people tried out the harder trails in the HEC.
The intermediate trails were more of a challenge, and for those of you
that don't think tires make a difference check out the depth of the mud
this Disco II is going through! The vehicles with more aggressive tires
had a much better shot at making these sections. The Disco II needed a
pull to make it.
Frequent visitors to the ECR page may remember this 110. We recently installed ARB air lockers front and rear as well as doing some paint and corrosion work. Here this nicely optioned 110 is out on the intermediate course during the event and the spring mud has claimed another victim. Not even lockers can help you in this situation... its time for the winch!
A great day was had by all, and we thank Land Rover Scarborough for sponsoring the event, and all the particpants for attending.
Back to the Table of Contents
East Coast Rover Co.
21 Tolman Road
Warren, ME 04864
email: ecrover@midcoast.com