I wonder if anyone can help, or provide any information on a bunch of Series 3 Land Rovers allegedly from the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
The story goes that the American Olympic team sourced a number of military specification Series 3 Land Rovers from the United Nations and imported them from Africa to Australia. They were then "restored" and registered as 9 seater "small buses", with certified modifications for seat belts etc. They were also fitted with external P.A. loudspeakers in the rear quarter panels and painted silver, then covered with sponsors stickers. Supposedly each was also equipped, at great expense, with a custom made air conditioned trailer to carry equipment. The American team then used these vehicles to ferry their athletes and equipment around for the duration of the games, after which they were (in true American style) simply abandoned when the team went home. Supposedly one was used at some point in the opening ceremony.
Whilst I know that at least one vehicle matching the description does exist, unfortunately I can't find anything to confirm the story that goes with it! So does anyone else have any information?
I can confirm that this story is partly true. There were 12 of these vehicles purchased by Nike Australia as promotional vehicles for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. My old man worked for Nike at the time as the Logistics manager and had a fair bit to do with the import of these vehicles. 11 of the vehicles were fitted out as 9 seater buses with CD players and a few other mod cons. The other vehicle (vehicle #1) was left pretty original other than the silver spray job and fishbone sticker decal. This was the mechanic support vehicle, and the one that my dad bought. Not too sure about the details of the other trucks but ours is an ex-UK army 1983 Land Rover 109. I would love to know where the other 11 of these trucks ended up??
Thanks for confirming the story - I suspected Nike had been involved, but I wasn't quite sure and I never understood why they did it as it must have cost a fortune. Mine is (was) one of the "buses", but it started out as a canvas top so the conversion process went:
1/ Brackets fabricated and welded to chassis outriggers beneath tub
2/ Holes cut through tub floor
3/ A pair of 50NB hoops made up, bolted through holes (1/) to brackets (2/)
4/ Seat belt mountings fabricated for 6 side facing rear seats, and front seats (attached to front 50NB hoop)
5/ Make entire new 1-piece fibreglass roof with sunroof
6/ Source "side hinged" LR rear door
7/ Holes cut in side of tub for external PA speakers
8/ Remove all external cleats and fixings
9/ "Smooth" body by grinding off/down all rivet heads (I kid u not)
10/ Grind/hammer all body imperfections to provide key for filler
11/ Fill all body imperfections
12/ Spray putty entire vehicle (2mm minimum, up to 15mm including filler)
13/ Paint entire vehicle
14/ Make, trim and fit 25mm chipboard door panels with speakers
15/ Get engineering approval for all modifications etc.
I have the fibreglass roof and rear door in the shed, just in case I ever want to refit them (doubtful). I'm almost finished repainting the vehicle in Australian army khaki - the silver paint and filler etc. was falling off, so I chemically stripped it to bare metal. I then realised that as the rivets had all been ground flat, many had pulled through so I replaced all the body rivets and refitted the cleats. The very heavy chipboard door panels had, over time, destroyed the hinges which had to be replaced. The doors didn't match - the driver side was anti-burst whilst the passenger side was not. As both doors had been sprayed the same Nike silver I assume either Nike replaced a door for some reason, or it came from the army like that.
Interestingly mine is also registered as an early 1980's vehicle, but investigation of the VIN shows it is actually early/mid 70's. The engine is not the original, the army had replaced it with one originally from a lightweight, if memory serves. There had also been a pipe with a carbon filter added between the top of the passenger side fuel tank and the air filter. This confused me until I realised that it was an attempt to replicate the vapour control system that is apparently required on an 80's vehicle. Unfortunately, given the vehicle has two underseat fuel tanks with vented caps, it served no purpose whatsoever!
I'm fascinated to know why Nike imported these vehicles. There must be some logic to it, because if all the vehicles had as much done to them as mine then they seem to have invested a massive amount of effort and expense for what, if it was just for the Olympics, was a very limited job!
I'm cvr109's "old man" and worked at NIKE head office in Melbourne through the 90's and 00's, no longer with them. I was the logistics guy for OZ / NZ and managed the Landrover imports into Australia for the 2000 Olympics. Your info is partly true but here's the facts:
The import consisted of 12 vehicles and 10 trailers. The vehicles were all pretty much as you describe apart from 2 which served as the mechanical support vehicles. The trailers were large rectangular fiberglass boxes around the same length as the vehicles with a bogie set of wheels at the front and another set of wheels at the back (unlike a normal trailer with wheels in the middle). They were painted up the same as the vehicles and opened hydraulically to form a display. The 2 support vehicles made it down to Melbourne and I bought one of them, the remainder stayed up in Sydney and were sold off after the Olympics.
Most of the work you describe in converting them happened in the UK where I imported them from. Only the grey paint and decal wraps were added in Australia. Getting them compliant for Australia roads was a nightmare and we ended up with a provisional registration that (supposedly) didn't allow them to be re-registered after they were sold by Nike. Obviously anyone who bought them (including me) found ways around that, my was road registered in Victoria until I let it lapse in mid 2000's.
They were all ex UK army vehicles that were originally purchased by NIKE UK and set up as you describe only in white colour. The original NIKE purpose was as promotional units for the 1998 France World Cup (Soccer). NIKE OZ bought them dirt cheap from NIKE UK and most of the cost was in ocean freight (11 x 40' containers if I remember correctly), paint / decals and compliance to get them on the road. Even thought they were cheap to buy,we underestimated the local compliance and it still cost a bomb.
If it's any consolation, NIKE considered them a great success in terms of the promotional value during the 2000 Olympics.
Apart from mine (and now yours), I don't know where the remainder ended up.
Let me know if I can help with any other questions.
Thanks for the information. It makes more sense that the conversions were done before the import - it seemed a massive amount of work just for the Olympics! The Nike UK white paint is probably where the U.N. part of the story came from, presumably somebody interpreted white paint over camo as "United Nations".
Having briefly investigated NSW compliance for a Series 1 with a Holden 6 cylinder motor, I have no doubt that getting compliance would have been tricky for these vehicles. NSW seem particularly fussy - the Series 1 with the Holden motor has a compliance plate for QLD, but the NSW inspector wanted upgraded brakes, catalytic converter and a heap of other things.... It stayed on historic rego which requires no such changes!
I was told that after the Olympics most of the vehicles ended up at a Sydney company who specialise in Land Rovers - I can't recall their name but I'm sure I have it recorded somewhere. It seems they managed to get past the re-registration issue, because mine is still registered as a 9 seater bus and the compliance certificates are still listed on the rego.
It's nice to know a but more of the history of the vehicle!! Thanks again.
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