A TALE OF TWO HILL RALLIES

SUNDAY, May 2, 1971. You could argue this was the date when anyone who harboured any lingering doubts about the advantages of coil springs on Land Rovers finally had to concede that the leafer’s days were probably numbered. It took Land Rover themselves another few years before the diehards among their own senior management accepted the fact and commissioned four coil-sprung assessment vehicles, built by cutting and shutting Range Rover chassis and fitting modified Series body panels. Why 2 May 1971? Because that was when the results were announced after the conclusion of the first Hillrally, which had been held that weekend in Wales. And despite the best efforts of several teams in their Series Is and IIs, the event had been won outright by a Range Rover.

We told the definitive story of the first Hillrallies in the March 2019 issue of LRM in our Land Rover Legends interview with Roger Fell, the man who gave up his job and committed himself wholeheartedly to making that pioneering first Hillrally event such a success. A total of 45 vehicles were entered in four different classes, and the list makes interesting reading.

As you’d expect, it was dominated by Land Rover products. There were very few alternatives in those days. There were four