75 YEARS OF LANDROVER

Land Rover lovers from across Australia are flocking to the NSW town of Cooma this Easter, for the 75th anniversary of the marque’s involvement with the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme.

 Cooma Car Club is co-ordinating the celebration, which is fitting given Cooma is the spiritual home of the brand in Australia and where the Land Rover journey really started. The vehicle was launched in 1948 and the Snowy scheme started construction a year later.

The Car Club’s clubhouse (11 Bolaro Street, just up the road from the Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre, which is well worth a visit) will be the hub of the administrative aspect of the event as entrants and exhibitors begin arriving in town on Wednesday, April 5 but activities don’t get properly underway until Good Friday (April 7). There is a full weekend’s program of navigation trials, off-road trials, tag-along tours to visit local sites of interest, live music, and a gala dinner.

 Once everyone has registered, the heart of the action is ‘Land Rover Central’ at the Cooma Showground, which will host most of the events including swap meets of parts and memorabilia, interviews and book signings with the international guests, and the ‘show and shine’. Organisers are confident the 2018 record of more than 700 Land Rovers in one location will be broken.

 On Easter Sunday, Cooma’s main street will come alive with the grand parade. All the vehicles registered for the event will take part in the convoy down Sharp Street before heading back to the showground for a final display and judging of the Land Rover national awards.

 The final event of the weekend is a farewell breakfast at the showground from 7.30am on Monday, April 10. No doubt all involved will be planning to reunite in Cooma in five years’ time, for the 80th anniversary celebrations.