Green Oval

Hi all I was not sure where to post the following so a new topic was born:-

After being chastised for insulting vehicles from the orient for which I am eternally sorry I do remember Mum saying don't mock the afflicted when I was a young one.

However driving over a foot bridge??? Really

also what's this about a yank coming over here and insulting the brits (car8). Which is a bit WW2 all over again

Over Paid, Over Sexed and Over Here!!!!!!!

Just before the adjudicators start, they should remember what make the support vehicles are!!!

CP wrote:

also what's this about a yank coming over here and insulting the brits (car8). Which is a bit WW2 all over again

You won't be saying that when the 'Yank' goes past you while you have the bonnet up on your Green Oval thingy.

Also, take a look at the Rally logo and see which make of vehicle is featured!!!!!

All I can say is Very good

Although a green oval owner, I might add that we should not forget our roots - the 1948 design was based on a j........j.......jee......jeep. Gee that was painful!

I knew if I left it long enough, someone would have to crack. It's only taken three years.

Yea, even the Japs copied it

Just a little history for all the Jeep owners.

The American Bantam Car Company was first established as a subsidiary of the Austin Car Company, a British car manufacturer, and was originally called American Austin Car Company. Austin made a small and economical car called the Austin Seven, which was very popular in England. Unfortunately for the Austin Car Company, the Austin Seven never saw popularity here in the states and the American Austin Car Company nearly went bankrupt. It was eventually taken over by its Chairman who changed its name to the American Bantam Car Company (Bantam). Bantam took the original Austin Seven design and made a number of improvements. It was a slightly bigger version than its British cousin and was capable of longer drives.



Ross

Ah thank you Ross, don't feel so unpatriotic anymore. So the Jeep is a British invention at heart. So should acknowledge the pre-eminence of the Green Oval and they both gave the Japanese something to copy. Don't they invent things themselves? The first monocoque framed motorcycle with hydraulic brakes was built in 1929 by a Cyril Pullin! The first Jap bike with hydraulic brakes arrived in 1969 and monocoque frames 20 years or so later. Brits are inventive, others copy and yes, I will acknowledge that they sometimes improve! The best Japanese 4x4 is still the Toyota FJ40 and guess what it looks like a series LR and a Jeep.

Also another interesting fact on our Jap friends

In 1941 the Imperial Japanese Army occupied the Philippines, where they found an old Bantam Mk II, and promptly brought it to Japan. The Japanese military authorities commanded Toyota to make a similar vehicle but to not model the appearance on the American Jeep. The prototype was called the Model AK and was formally adopted by The Japanese Imperial Army as the Yon-Shiki Kogata Kamotsu-Sha ( 四式小型貨物車 type 4 compact cargo-truck ).

Later in 1941 the Japanese government asked Toyota to produce a light truck for the Japan military campaign. Toyota developed a ½ ton prototype called the AK10 in 1942. The AK10 was built using reverse-engineering from the Bantam GP. There are no known surviving photographs of the AK10. The only known pictorial representations are some rough sketches. The truck featured an upright front grille, flat front wheel arches that angled down and back like the FJ40, headlights mounted above the wheel arches on either side of the radiator and a folding windshield.

So again it comes back to good old British engineering.

Ross

All top stuff,
So Jeep & jap Cr@p are actaully british & my range rover has a black oval.....

Does this mean all the owners of non british wannabes will now shut up & admit defeat

Mark Avo wrote:

All top stuff,
So Jeep & jap Cr@p are actaully british & my range rover has a black oval.....

Does this mean all the owners of non british wannabes will now shut up & admit defeat

Do you really think thats going to happen?

No,

I know they have a massive chip on their shoulders, dont know why.
Maybe it's cos they tied their colours to the wrong mast many years ago & now they're just too embarrased to admit they were wrong.

No doubt they'll all be along in a minute to "protest too much"

protest too much Mark - It's not in our nature, we are fair, honest, placid, reasonable people who bear no malice or any pre-conceived ideas.

Anyway, I've also noted the start numbers of one or two 'relevant' teams

(But it's still good to know the seeds of 4x4 are BRITISH). Bonus points may be awarded to a team finding a Welsh connection

evo4x4 wrote:

Bonus points may be awarded to a team finding a Welsh connection

I know a farmer who carries sheep round in her Disco - Is that any good?

(But it's still good to know the seeds of 4x4 are BRITISH). Bonus points may be awarded to a team finding a Welsh connection

My landie's got a leak........is that Welsh enough????????

Magpie wrote:

My landie's got a leak.....

Show me one that hasn't

Just for you Keith

Lived on Anglesey
Maurice Wilks - father of the Land Rover, which was test driven on Newborough and Llanddona beach


Is that good enough?

Good point - I forgot the Series 1 was concieved in Wales...

In the 1940s, Rover's Managing Director was Spencer Wilks, and his brother Maurice was the Chief Designer. Maurice Wilks owned a farm in Anglesey that also had a war surplus Willys Jeep. Although very beaten up, the Jeep proved to be a very useful vehicle for small jobs around the farm. Seriously in need of replacing, Maurice Wilks had a problem. Although further war surplus jeeps were available, they were in a similar condition. Spare parts could only be purchased in bulk, and new Jeeps were not being exported from the US to the UK. Besides, the British Chief Designer balked at the idea of buying a non-British vehicle, and commented that if he could not build a better vehicle he should not be in the business!

So to sum up, the Jeep was such a git to maintain they went off & built a Land Rover.
Nothing new there then....

I dont know why I'm after bonus points but what the hell......


ENGINEERING GENIUS RESTING IN PEACE AT LLANFAIR YN CWMWD

Like all the better things that day, it was my Mum - who was feeling a bit better - who noticed that Llanfair Yn Cwmwd held the remains of a World Famous Engineering Genius.

I was too busy being entranced by the Peace and Tranquility. However, on the gravestone are inscribed the plain words:

MAURICE FERDNAND CARY WILKS
AUGUST 19TH 1904 – SEPTEMBER 8TH 1963
A MUCH LOVED GENTLE, MODEST MAN
WHOSE SUDDEN DEATH ROBBED THE
ROVER COMPANY OF A CHAIRMAN AND
BRITAIN OF THE BRILLIANT PIONEER
WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WORLD’S
FIRST GAS TURBINE DRIVEN CAR.



On an Anglesey farm in 1946 Maurice Wilks came to the conclusion that his old ex-Army Jeep was defunct and he needed a substitute. But so soon after the Second World War a British replacement was not available. What to do?

While a normal Anglesey farmer might save up for a little Ferguson tractor and manage with a few horses, not so Mr Wilks. It so happened that one of his jobs was Chief Designer for the Rover Company and his brother, Spencer Wilks was Rover’s General Manager.

Maurice Wilks created a frame similar to that of the Willy’s Jeep and dressed it appropriately with Birmabright Aluminum alloy, of which there was plenty after the War – no steel, though. He fitted a Rover engine and created a transmission that would drive all four wheels.

Thus was created, here on Anglesey, at Newborough– and not all that far from Llanfair yn Cwmwd – the perfect off-road utility vehicle for farmers. However, in the first model the driver had to sit astride the gear box, with the steering in the centre. The familiar original light green colour took advantage of the post-War superabundance of green aircraft cockpit paint.

At that time the Rover Company was struggling because of the lack of steel normally used for the fabrication of cars. Maurice Wilks’ design and the abundance of Aluminium created a perfect opportunity for the company’s almost redundant workforce.

Maurice raised the matter with his brother, Spencer (General Manager), who raised it with the Board. The Board, in turn, grasped the opportunity and an initial 48 were built.

The 'Series 1' Land Rover was launched in 1948 Amsterdam Auto Show and by 1951 the company reached a milestone with the manufacture of the 250,000th Land Rover.


It is clear, by the simple fact of Maurice Wilks’ resting place in the churchyard of Llanfair yn Cwmwd, that Newborough and Anglesey was a special place for him.

To sum up again.
Anyone who is Welsh or has Welsh connection and has any respect for the Great people, products or heritage from their country should as a matter of duty, drive or at least want to drive, a Land Rover!

Many Green Ovals are green like the Valleys, the driver's tow Ifor Williams trailers (the best and made in Wales) and some of the best green lanes are in Wales. (I confess to having Welsh blood so may be a little biased!). And my wife's mother is real Welsh, even speaks Welsh.

The Welsh connection: Anglesey was the unlikely birthplace of one of Britain's most famous motoring brands. All because chief Rover designer, Maurice Wilks, had a farm at Red Wharf Bay.
"He operated an old wartime Jeep at his home in Warwickshire and would drive it, with his boat, up to Anglesey," said Roger Crathorne, technical manager at Land Rover. "But if you're running an old wartime Jeep, you need spare parts."
As an inventive engineer, Wilks thought he could not only fix it himself, but come up with a better vehicle for the country's farmers.
So he drew a sketch of his ideal all-terrain vehicle in the sands of Red Wharf Bay, and the Land Rover was conceived.
"Then he got some old wartime Jeeps, put in a Rover engine and gearbox and drove it around," said Roger.
"He realised their engine and gearbox suited a four wheel drive vehicle. Better still, the Land Rover had a four speed gear box, where the old Jeep had three."
As the first prototype he built was aimed at the farming community, Wilks put the steering wheel in the centre. But that made it difficult to give hand signals and to manoeuvre, sitting lower in a car as opposed to high up in a tractor, so Wilks switched to a left or right hand drive.
'Phenomenal'
By 1948 he was given the authority to build 48 pre-production vehicles, the first of which was christened Huey, as its registration was HUE166. They were unveiled to the public at an Amsterdam motor show.
"The orders they received were phenomenal," said Roger. "And the rest is history."
Land Rover have kept their connections with north Wales, returning to Anglesey on the 60th anniversary to photograph a limited edition SVX on the same beach.
Roger also remembers visiting Beddgelert in 1970 for the launch of the Range Rover.
"We wanted a Welsh backdrop to the filming. We also got shots crossing the Menai Bridge, to reconnect with where Land Rover was originally conceived.
"In 1971 the Wales Tourist Board encouraged one of the first international hill rallies to be held there, which we won.
"The conservationists today would be horrified that we were driving rally cars all over the land!"

Good stuff guys;

Bonus Points for Ross - Oh - you're not taking part in 2012

Bonus Points for Mark - Oh - you're Marshaling in 2012

Bonus Points for Team 25 - reason; Welsh Mother-in-law

Penalty Points (again) for Team 20 - reason; the jokes are getting worse than Richie's

Awesome. Mother-in-laws have a use!

My mate, Peter, had a small holding at Newborough Warren. Do I get extra points for driving my landy there?

Edie's maiden name is 'Thomas' ........... how Welsh is that ???