Soon after they first came onto the market, Land Rovers played an important part in the building a huge infrastructure project in Australia. The Snow Mountains Hydroelectric and Irrigation Scheme was built between 1949 and 1974 and mainly through mountainous and practically uninhabited country.
The project included sixteen major dams; nine power stations; two pumping stations; and 225 kilometres (140 mi) of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts. Land Rovers were extensively used for access in a very unfriendly situation.
A number of major anniversary events have been held to commemorate the role of this iconic vehicle and this Easter will see more than 600 classic Land Rovers (that have been used for a variety of purposes) travel to Cooma in NSW for the 75th Anniversary.
I recorded a chat with Rogan Corbett, President of the Cooma Car Club who organise the event.
Some of the comments (and the times they appear) are as follows:
1:22 Early years and the consideration of the Jeep as an alternative (which was rejected)
2:09 Previous anniversaries talking about how the bosses who sat in offices got the best Land Rovers with a heater, while the workers out in the field only had base models without heaters.
3:23 Museums in the Snowy Mountains for the project and for motoring
4:21 The number of Land Rovers initially (150) and then overall (about 700)
5:00 Snowy Mountains authority focused on safety including developing seat belts
5:23 Other Land Rovers and special guests including from overseas
7:28 The other significant vehicle that arose a bit later out of this project was the Toyota Land Cruiser. Some interest but not as much.
7:55 Many events over the weekend
(photo credit: The Monaro Post).
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