After my sixteenth birthday, I wrote a letter to Camel Trophy headquarters asking permission to enter my 1984 Suzuki Samuri in the 1998 Tierra Del Fuego Chile adventure. They never responded.

The new millennium saw the end of Camel Trophy’s annual extreme expeditions and I thought that perhaps my chances to lose myself and a perfectly good vehicle in a foreign desert or jungle were totally devastated.

But even though Camel Trophy has ceased to probe the most uninhabitable expanses of the globe with Land Rovers, a new event is gaining in popularity down under.

The Australian Outback Challenge, also known as “7 Days of Sheer Hell” by its battered veterans, is held in some of the most treacherous landscapes of Australia, in a location called Brokenhill, or Brokentruck, I think. With Camel Trophy dead and gone, Ron Moon, the challenge’s central sponsor and organizer, is building the prestige of the event by putting international driver’s abilities to navigate, survive, and drive, to the test.

Best of all, the Outback Challenge is open to all drivers, seasoned, insane, and novice. So my father and I, pooling our personal resources and searching for daring sponsors, are making plans to compete as a team in the 2006 challenge with a capable 1999 Land Rover Discovery I.

My father purchased the vehicle with a salvage title: the frame was bent in three places and there were a few minor things that needed to be wrenched and fixed. However, after we spent a few weeks discussing ideas and observing past outback challenges on DVD, we came to the conclusion that high horse-power, tall suspension, and ramming-speed acceleration would not win an event like this. 

We considered cutting the large Discovery body into a bob-tail design, similar to Norman Hall’s Disco, which is currently being built for the 2005 Outback Challenge. We have brainstormed suspension set-ups, winch systems, drive-train modifications, and spiffy dashboard electric fans. Throughout the year we will share with you our build-up process and hopefully spare you some of the mistakes that we will surely make during our quest to finally build the ultimate expedition truck.

Please enjoy our ideas and designs. If we can help you with a build-up or project vehicle, please contact us. Also, if you would be willing to sponsor our attempt to finally experience the adventure, we will make sure your company gets ample exposure in the increasingly publicized 2006 Australian Outback Challenge. For a more thorough insight into the Outback Challenge, we offer the 2004 Outback Challenge documentary DVD under our Video library.