Arizona Land Rover Rally

The Arizona Land Rover Owners club provided another exceptional event in 2011, hosting over 70 vehicles and hundreds of Land Rover enthusiasts in Gold Canyon. This is one of my favorite events every year because of the level of organization and the fact that I have known many of these characters since 2001! They really are a wonderful and eclectic group and have always been a big supporter of Overland Journal and Expedition Portal.

The event kicked-off after a day of trail runs with a vendor night, hosting several excellent sponsors like Sierra Expeditions, Ironman (Camel 4×4), BB4WA, Overland Journal and others.

On Saturday we signed up for a fun 4wd run through the Superstition Mountains. While rated as moderate, it was square in the easy category and passable by any stock Land Rover with low range. Despite being a little easier than expected, we had a great day and traveled with a nice group, including four LR3/4s. These new Land Rovers are impressive in stock form and are worth a further look.

Vendor Night:

Camel 4×4 and the Ironman equipped Discovery II

A nice Doormobile

An impressive telescope

Wil and his well-used and loved Tacoma

The line-up on the morning of the 4wd runs

A clean Defender

With each new year, more Defenders enter the US market. It will likely save these events and renew passion in the brand.

I love this simple 110 PU. The owner was a nice guy and ExPo member too.

For the trail run, we traveled on the battle axe route and had a nice lineup of (mostly) stock Rovers.

This LR4s first modification. The truck still had temp plates.

Steve’s D110 was an interesting contrast to the other trucks in the lineup and certainly the most coveted. 

A perfect day on the trail

A nice LR4 driven by an interesting (and well traveled) family

My brother-in-law, Jared, doing some driving in the Overland Journal Discovery

A fun water crossing – Jared took the wheel