Wednesday 25th July 2012

Time for ... coffee? Round-the-world G-Wagen

German G-Wagen owner sets off for driving tour in 1989 ... and hasn't stopped since

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These days we're meant to call the Mercedes Gelandewagen the G-Class, not G-Wagen. Which is fine for the Russian mobsters and Hollywood celebs to whom we owe the vehicle's continued existence.

Somehow we doubt German adventurer Gunther Holtorf knows what a G-Class is. Because his car - nicknamed Otto - is most definitely a proper G-Wagen, without a hint of AMG bling or any other such nonsense!

Somehow achieved without a 500hp V8!

A super-cool narrated slideshow of highlights from his now 23-year, half-million mile adventure in Otto - started with his wife at the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 - has been put up on the BBC website and was brought to our attention yesterday as a possible Time For Tea? candidate. We already had something lined up with the Wilton House promo but it's too good to wait until the afternoon so we'll bend the format slightly and run it as Time For Tea?'s hastily contrived morning equivalent - Time For Coffee? - instead!

So, you know what to do. Here's five minutes of inspirational words and imagery - the perfect accompaniment to your mid-morning caffeine hit!

(Pics by David Lemke, via the BBC)

[arkenphel]

Awesome!!!! How do they sustain that lifestyle? I wish I could do that!

[SirSamuelBuca]

its a great tale. A shame about his wife but good on him for carrying on!

[sinbaddio]

Truly inspirational!

[ramz]

This guy has lived my dream, what an absolute legend. He must be one of the most travelled people on the planet and yet he did it without any publicity, no twitter, facebook or blog tracking his daily progress...

I wonder how they managed to do it financially?

[RevoHJC]

Wish I had the money to just drive around doing jack st for 25 years. Jesus fk.

[Irish]

Ahem, thread already running. Can you merge? http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...


Fabulous story. Would love to do likewise. I am following www.bodeswell.com at the minute about a couple who bought a VW camper and hit for South America - 3 years on and still travellying - with kid in tow.

Edited by Irish on Wednesday 25th July 11:24

[Steameh]

ramz said:

This guy has lived my dream, what an absolute legend. He must be one of the most travelled people on the planet and yet he did it without any publicity, no twitter, facebook or blog tracking his daily progress...

I wonder how they managed to do it financially?

In another thread there was a link to a story a few years ago about the same bloke. Said that he was pretty high up back before he left with some big airlines, plus he publishes the jakarta street atlas which is in its 13th edition which probably brings in some decent cash.

[Irish]

RevoHJC said:

Wish I had the money to just drive around doing jack st for 25 years. Jesus fk.

It is called a retirement and a pension!

[Hellbound]

For myself, and I suspect a lot of people, the overriding factor deciding whether you can or cannot do this is financial.

[German]

For me its purely financial....I'm selling the 944 and buying a camper to restore this winter, then off for 6 months or as long as I can afford with the GF next spring. If I won the lotto the plans wouldn't change, id just have a nicer camper, a trailer with a 993 GT2 on it and I wouldn't be coming back

[Garaculas]

Very cool little story, bloke is a true inspiration. As said previously the only thing stopping the rest of us from doing this is money but its great to see other people doing it and to prove that it can be done!

[ukaskew]

I'm sure there are plenty of people who at 50ish have paid their mortgage off, sell the house and all possessions and the average couple would be looking at £200k minimum in the current climate. He says his main costs are fuel, shipping and food (no hotels or restuarants), I'm guessing £200k would last you quite some time as long as you were careful.

I would guess that the main hurdle for most people would actually be taking that leap of faith where you end up sat at Dover with nothing but a vehicle, a tent, some cooking equipment and a few items of clothing.

[Irish]

ukaskew said:

I'm sure there are plenty of people who at 50ish have paid their mortgage off, sell the house and all possessions and the average couple would be looking at £200k minimum in the current climate. He says his main costs are fuel, shipping and food (no hotels or restuarants), I'm guessing £200k would last you quite some time as long as you were careful.

I would guess that the main hurdle for most people would actually be taking that leap of faith where you end up sat at Dover with nothing but a vehicle, a tent, some cooking equipment and a few items of clothing.

He did keep his house and returned there every year for a few months - not a total, gone for 20 years, story.

http://www.ft.lk/2010/12/16/gunther-holtorf-tours-...

[Hellbound]

ukaskew said:

I'm sure there are plenty of people who at 50ish have paid their mortgage off, sell the house and all possessions and the average couple would be looking at £200k minimum in the current climate. He says his main costs are fuel, shipping and food (no hotels or restuarants), I'm guessing £200k would last you quite some time as long as you were careful.

I would guess that the main hurdle for most people would actually be taking that leap of faith where you end up sat at Dover with nothing but a vehicle, a tent, some cooking equipment and a few items of clothing.

The way things are going you'll need that £200k to make sure you're taken care of in your old age. Alternatively, just buy a house or two in an area with a strong rental market. Then you can just finance yourself from your income.

My cousin has around 40 houses dotted around a good University, as a result they're always filled with students. Now that's the sort of position I'd want to be in before going on my expedition. Well, it would be less of an overground expedition and more of a swanning around the planet affair.

[goodwoodweirdo]

Welcome to the world of "Overlanding"

http://www.weltrekordreise.ch/a_starte.html

and if you need any further inspiration

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/

Beware your lunch time wont be long enough....

[Loki7430]

What an inpirational film - even with money no object to keep going like that takes some beating.

Not a bad advert for Mercedes either - "never broken down". Mind you I couldn't see a modern M class making it that far!

[Martin 480 Turbo]

Interesting discussion going on. Nevertheless:

"Gongratulations on the new format."

As a continental reader sipping at two cups of
caffee-latte early in the morning I duely hope
for "time for coffee" to become regular.

Martin 480 Turbo

Should go online early in the morning, though.

[thewheelman]

Nice story

[Mules]

Great story. Travel and photos like that certainly broaden the mind to the possibilities. Now to stack some cash and find an old Defender...

[Hellbound]

Something like this offers tremendous value, shame it doesn't have two more doors;

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C309527


Think I've found my Otto;

http://www.vintagerollsroycecars.com/car-details/1...

Now I just need a wife!