The Land Rover parade through Cooma on Easter Sunday included 640 vehicles. Photo: Gail Eastaway.
More than 1200 Land Rover owners were part of the mania that descended on Cooma and its surrounds over Easter.
Celebrating the 75th anniversary of the release of the distinctive vehicle, attendees set what is believed to be a world record: 640 Land Rovers of various ages and styles, in a street parade on Sunday, plus another 150 in the vicinity.
The parade, along Cooma’s main road, Sharp Street, took about an hour and a half to complete.
W with family and travelling companions, an estimated 5000 people were in town for the event, most camping at either the Cooma Showgrounds or Ti Tree Race Course.
Land Rovers came in all shapes and sizes at the 75th-anniversary parade in Cooma last weekend. Photo: Gail Eastaway.
The four-day event included day trips around the region, 4WD trials on Saturday, a 400-person barbecue on Saturday night and a 440-person gala presentation dinner on Sunday night.
Coordinated by the Cooma Car Club, the event was a strong boost to the local economy right around the region.
Visiting Land Rovers and their owners came from the UK, the US, New Zealand and all Australian states and territories.
Car club president Rogan Corbett said it had been a ”fabulous” weekend, with the event going ”exceptionally well”.
“This was an outstanding effort from the local community. It was an amazing benefit for the region. The shops did well, the vendors at the event did well,” he said.
“There were a couple of minor hiccups, but I really didn’t hear any negative comments.
“The street parade had 640 vehicles in it but there were another 150 vehicles that didn’t enter.
“All in all, it was a fantastic weekend, with so many people seeing what this region has to offer visitors.
“The day trip to Delegate was well supported and the feedback from participants was really positive. Delegate would have to be happy with that.
Several categories of Land Rover were shown off in the parade. Photo: Gail Eastaway.
“Cooma Chamber of Commerce certainly was supportive. We auctioned off the banners the chamber made to promote the event. We also had an auction for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which raised plenty.
“The show-and-shine was very popular. All the merchandise was sold and I heard the coffee van sold about 500 cups of coffee on Friday.
“It’s all looking good for the next one in five years.”
Cooma has hosted several milestone Land Rover anniversaries since 2008. That event put Cooma on the map as the centre for Land Rover celebrations to come.
Land Rovers became synonymous with the construction of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme from 1949 to 1974,
Each of the anniversaries has set out to showcase the best examples of the Land Rover in all its guises, from renovated to restored, rare and bespoke, conversions, military derivatives and more.
In Sunday’s parade, Land Rovers from the 1950s onwards were on show, bumper to bumper, to the delight of onlookers.
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