Photo via Radical 4×4 on Flickr
Actually, I do not know if the videos below are of off road racing in South America. I just saw Ecuador in there somewhere. Is your spanish better than mine? Where are these races? No matter where the location, they look like a lot of fun! They remind me of the obstacle races and wheel to wheel races that I used to attend with my parents in the 70′s and 80′s. There is no big suspension travel…just a lot of people out having fun! I see Jeeps, Toyota Land Cruisers, a 66-77 Ford Bronco and even the odd full size truck.
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Get this. A diesel powered Jeep CJ-7 built in France and called the Texan. I guess it makes sense, since Renault owned Jeep for a while. In fact, I would love to drive a Jeep CJ7 powered by the 2.0 litre Renault diesel. Notice how the turn signals on the fender have been replaced with english 4 wheel drive badges. What do you think about the whole Texan Jeep that was available in France? Via…

Check out this 70′s Jeep TV Commercial. So guys…is it true? Do Jeep owners always get the girl?
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Lately, we have featured some posts with lots of vintage off road desert race Jeep photos. There has been lots of discussion about Ray Russell in this article, this one and this article, along with some photos that Kevin Vaughan sent of the desert race Jeep CJ-5 that his uncle used to race in the 70′s. Ed Bray from Tacoma, Wa loved the vintage desert racing photos and sent us some photos of the Jeeps that he used to race. The Willys is at Riverside and the Mint 400 in 1978, which the CJ-7 was at the 1982 Baja 1000. We love the photos Ed! Do you have old off road racing photos that you would like contribute? Contact us!

Last Jauary, we posted some photos that Kevin Vaughan sent us of the 1972 Jeep CJ-5 that his uncle used to desert race in the 70′s. After seeing the interest and discussion that the Jeep off road racer Ray Russell photos and article created here and here, he decided to send me some of the photos of Ray that his uncle had in his photo album. Two of the photos are from the 1976 SNORE 250 while the other two are from the 1976 WRA 300. Note that the WRA 300 photos must be of Ray and his co-driver prerunning as they are not wearing helmets. Also note that these photos are from before Goodyear sponsored Ray Russell. He is running Cooper tires. Do you have any more photos of Ray Russell or off road desert racers from the 70′s?

Bill Sanders and Pete Springers from Four Wheeler magazine raced this Stroppe built Jeep CJ-7 in a number of desert races in the late 70′s. Their articles followed the buildup right through to the racing and repairs. Via…

Back in November 2009, we posted an article about this Jeep CJ stepside truck that us a copy of the rare Gaucho truck, which was built by a California Jeep dealer in the 70′s. The owner has decided to sell the project, which is really a shame since he is almost finished! This interesting project is up for sale on Ebay and you can view the buildup on Jeep forum.com

The Pirate 4×4 forum is usually made up of hardcore rock crawlers. However, they started a desert and short course racing section about a year ago and it is picking up in popularity. This thread on desert racing Jeeps has some great photos of Jeep CJ-5 and CJ-7′s. Guys like Don Adams and Ray Russell were some of my icons when I was growing up.

Remember the Jeep CJ Golden Eagle and Renegade? Man, who can forget the big eagle on the hood? Golden Eagle Decals.com has all the decals you will need if you are restoring your Golden Eagle, Renegade or Super Jeep!

I just recieved a great email from a gentleman by the name of Brad Russell. Brad is the son of Ray Russell, who raced a Jeep CJ-7 in the 70′s and early 80′s. I can remember reading about Ray in the magazines when I was a kid. From what I remember, he almost dominated his class (modified 4×4) in the 70′s and had some great battles with Don Adams later on in the late 70′s and early 80′s. Brad, thank you for the email and photos that you sent me.

I am sad to say that Brad tells me that his dad passed away on May 2, 2007. What can you remember about Ray? Anyone have some good stories? Feel free to leave comments below.

Godspeed Ray.