War and Peace 2007

[Patrick O'Donnell]

It looks more like chocolate than mud.

[Armortek]

Nigel,

Sorry will try for 52" screen size next time

Dave

I think I have to take issue with your 88% ! -

and Patrick

How I wish it had been chocolate

Gill

[Mick Regan]

Looks like I was the lucky one. Wednesnay was dry with some sun. Even managed to get a touch of sunburn wandering around the huge display area.

The Armortek stand was in a great location. The main road for all the armour going to the display ring was on one side, a short stagger the other way you fell into the beer tent.

A couple a shots of the Kampgruppe vonAbt display






An M16 to wet your appetite



Thanks to Mark and Gill for the invite.

Hope you're in the same location next year.

Cheers

Mick

[Derek Attree]

Hi Guys
I had a great time at the show.I have finaly got the mud
out of my boots and socks (Wellies next year).
Nice to meet people and put faces to names.
roll on next year...

Derek

[Vince Abbott]

Just about got all the mud of the old Schwimmwagen, great fun though and I love the fact it made a lot of very modern 4x4's look very inadequate in the thick mud .

Here's a small selection from the 500+ images I took at the show, as you can image around 490 of those were of Schwimmwagen's but I did manage to grab a few shots of some of the other attractions at the show in between the rain showers (some photos courtesy of Anouk & Charles):

Many thanks to Lee and little Shaun (Hubba hubba hubba) Sellers for all your help with the diorama .



























Tim getting into the spirit of the show:



Mark enjoying some good old home cooking :



I bet this came in handy and earned it's keep:







My favourite vehicle of the show, this thing was an absolute monster:







Before:





After:



















See you next year!

Vince.

[Allan Richards]

Whilst leaving on Friday night I was following a Volvo 4X4 that had huge wide wheels fitted. It ended up bogged down whilst the little old Vectra kept pulgging on. I think the capability of modern 4X4's is mainl inhibited by stupid tyre choice and inexperienced drivers. Richard Hammond bashing up his Porsche 4X4 with its wide wheels comes to mind

[Dave Dibb (Armorpax)]

Hi Allan,

You are dead right about tyre choice and inexperience, we were well placed to view most of the exits and little thin tyres on vehicles like the Kubels and bike combos worked the best in porridge, it amazed us as to the number of landrover and 4x4 owners who seem never to have heard of 4 wheel drive and think if you accelerate you might get out of the ooze

cheers

Dave

[Vince Abbott]

I love the fact all those 60+ year old vehicle came into their own in those conditions, whilst driving around the showground with Tim we sat behind a BMW X5 and Landcrusier making a real meal of it. The shot below is actually of the Landcruiser trying to drive straight down the road but ended up driving along at this ridiculous angle. Seems a bit silly spending all that money on a 4x4 then put road tyres on it, as you said the standard saloon cars fared better.



One of the highlights for me was seeing a tiny Kettenkrad pulling a huge motor home out of the mud, those things certainly have some pulling power . The motorbike combination towing the VW Golf past the Armortek stand was quite a sight as well.

Roll on next year

Vince.

[Mike Mobbs]

In muddy conditions narrow tyres work well because they sink through to the firm layer underneath, and if the mud is generally wet and sloppy the tyres cut through with little trouble, a bit like riding a push bike through fresh snow. The alternative is wide tyres (eg 4x4, which I always believe means 16 ), in appalling conditions, but with lower tyre pressures (20 psi max) if necessary, but drive like you are on an ice rink. Since I passed my test I've only ever driven Landrovers, and experience shows that is technique that counts, not the hardware. When I bought my first elderly Series 3, the seller, a Landrover expert, took me for a test drive including off-road on a nice loose, dry, 'green road' "OK, now select low ratio, and pull away gently in first gear". I followed the instructions and 'Brmm' I moved easily, not forwards, but downwards about 4 inches, leaving a neat pile of dirt behind each wheel. " Now select third gear, no throttle, feather the clutch" and away we went. Lesson learnt. These days I drive a newer one (Defender County TDI) but the same still applies, and I've never found the need for off-road tyres, even off-road.



Mike M

[Allan Richards]

In my previous job I visited Saudi Arabia on too many occasions. We had two driving courses to attend. one driving on the desert and the other avoiding getting shot whilst out driving!! As Mike says easy on the throttle, once you start diging holes your sunk - literally. I guess that half the plonkers with (16s)? have never drivien further off road than the kerb side grass. A Land Cruiser will go through anything without going sideways.

[Dave Dibb (Armorpax)]

Hi All,

as a little parting shot..............

Whilst the Weather was not "brilliant" arn't we all glad we were out by Monday

I am sorry the two pics are not better but they were taken on a friends mobile, even so you get the idea of where, before Tuesday, there was our stand in the model marquee, a Beer Tent and the Armortek Stand.................




cheers

Dave

[Tim Bowman]

"experience shows that is technique that counts, not the hardware."

Mike,

Well said.

One of the only things I might give my beloved 90 up for is Vince's Schwimmwagen. What a ya say Vince??

Baja Mexico

[Vince Abbott]

I don't know, what with the amount of rain we've been having I think I better keep hold of the old Schwimmer, I might be testing its swimming ability sooner than anticipated and besides the Land Rover doesn't have a mount for the MG34. Nothing scares off Traffic Wardens more than a heavy MG mounted on your bonnet .

Vince.