Hundreds of Land Rovers scattered across the acreage at the site of the 2004 Mid Atlantic Rally. The drivers trekked in from all over the U.S., and some came from as far as England-Land Rover motherland. Like they do every fall, ex-military work horses, dedicated trail rigs, and daily-driven family haulers converged on Pearl's Pond in Buckingham, Virginia, for their owners to celebrate their Rover heritage.
The event, launched by the Rover Owners Association of Virginia in 1994, is a weekend four-wheeling festival complete with vendors, food, children's activities, seminars, friendly Rover driving contests, and trail rides. The Mid Atlantic Rally is said to be the largest gathering of Land Rovers in this hemisphere. It's open to any Rover owner, regardless of their ROAV membership. However, the trails at Pearl's Pond are on private property, and not open for public use.
While the Mid Atlantic Rally in the fall is open to any Rover owner, ROAV also hosts some events throughout the year for members only. For more information on sponsored events, visit www.roav.org.
It's not all Discos and D90s....
It's not all Discos and D90s. The Mid Atlantic Rally brings out some vehicles you may never have seen in person. David McMullan of Robesonia, Pennsylvania, showed up wheeling his ex-military 101 Forward Control truck. In its former life, his camo rig was responsible for carrying artillery in battle.
The Mid Atlantic Rally was...
The Mid Atlantic Rally was started by the Rover Owners' Association of Virginia more than a decade ago. Today, it's the largest gathering of Land Rover's in North America where old and new Rovers and Rover owners meet and wheel together. Here, a Freelander and Series Rover wait at a trail-ride staging area.
This 109-inch '71 GS Series...
This 109-inch '71 GS Series Rover started life as a British ambulance, and is now owned and driven by Mike and Cyndy Boggs of Afton, Virginia. This ex-military workhorse proved a nimble competitor on the side hills and tight turns of the Rally's RTV course.
One of the many friendly competitions...
One of the many friendly competitions at the Rally is the Road Tax Vehicle course. Based on the European "street legal" designation, RTV participants navigate through a series of gates over steep climbs, descents, side hills, and other obstacles in their street-licensed rigs. Here, Bill Simone gets his '73 Series III through some of the gates on the course.
A little bad weather never...
A little bad weather never dampens the mood at the Rally. Monsoon-like rains in the days before the event turned most of the trails at Pearl's Pond into mushy slop, and forced the closure of some. On one of the more difficult trails, the driver of this Land Rover Defender kept its mud-packed tires spinning to clear a section called Tank Trap.
Plenty of rain in the days...
Plenty of rain in the days before the Rally made some of the trails quite challenging for the modified rigs. Even with his 5-inches of lift and 265/75/16 Mud-Terrains, John Bailey nearly had his Rangie's driveline swallowed in the slop at the bottom of this hillclimb. Liberal throttle and the front and rear ARB lockers helped him through it.