After a wet, muddy and cold weekend at Overland Expo East 2015 I high tailed it across the country to catch up with some friends, prep for The SEMA Show and attend the Western National Land Rover Rally in Sedona, AZ. The cross country trip was pretty eventful, with half a day on the side of the highway broke down and some huge storms. In the end though, I made it out to Arizona, and even snuck in some camping with friends before the event. The hot dry Arizona weather was a bit of a shock from the torrential rains and chilly temps in North Carolina!
I felt that a “Dawn of The Red” Ninkasi brew was fitting to share with friends overlooking the red rocks of Sedona, AZ as the sun set.
I was on assignment for Lucky 8 Offroad, as they were too busy at their NY shop to make the long trip west. I put together some fun video clips from the event’s happenings and got to hang out with a lot of really good people. It was awesome to see such a diverse variety of Land Rover vehicles and people come together with a common passion. I was only able to join in on the festivities for a long day, but I got to see a lot of the events, the HUGE raffle and hang out with a ton of quality people. I’ll let the photos below, and the video above, give you a glimpse into this fun event that every Land Rover enthusiast should attend.
Soooo many cool Land Rovers of all types and configurations in attendance.
The Challenge Day Events presented a lot of fun team building and off-road skills challenges.
Attendees also got a chance to learn from experts like Bill Burke.
The Cajun food truck that came down from Flagstaff was quite good!
Arizona offers up spectacular sunsets.
Lucky 8 provided a number of items for the raffle vehicle and these awesome Terra Firma HID off-road lights. This was easily one of the most sought after prizes of the night.
One of the largest auctions I’ve ever seen. I love the way it was set up, where you just put a, or many, ticket in for each of the items that you’re interested in.
The raffle truck was quite a well set up machine. It had all kinds of useful and bling parts.
Land Rover fever was abundant!
Huge turnout for the raffle night.
Why not do a full engine rebuild at the event?
Did you know that Land Rover require a lot of “maintenance” 😉
Quite a few Defender, in all sizes, in attendance.
Disco’s, or Discovery, tend to get modified quite a bit, as the parts on them are worth much more than the vehicle themselves.
This Camel Trophy Disco looked right at home in the AZ desert.
Lots of LR3 and LR4, in all sorts of build styles, are popping up, as they are finally getting to be affordable and aftermarket parts are being offered.
The lines of the Range Rover Classic are still iconic and classy.
Beastly Range Rover!
Yes there was a woman driving this Classic 🙂
P38, why not!
Very few RR Sport in the off-road scene, but this G4 Challenge truck didn’t mind going out for a play in the mud.
They even let a few non-LR vehicles come out and play, like this new 4Runner from Sierra Expeditions.
Adventure Driven‘s “Sexy Lexy” looking good in the AZ sunshine.
I’d like to send a huge thanks out to all the organizers and participants for their amazing hospitality during the Western National Land Rover Rally 2015, even though I showed up in a huge Dodge based expedition camper. I think the cold Ninkasi craft beer from my fridge on that hot Arizona day helped my cause 😉
