Oddest 'what car' ever? What V8 to drive from UK to Vietnam?

[fivetenben]

v8250 said:

Good-o. Have taken a look at your profile...you'll be fine as definitely no green ears. IMHO go for a car that's not ran with electronics/ECU, has cart springs at rear, and carbs that can be tweaked where only low octane, and/or, water contaminated fuel is the norm'.

Have just read a little of your blog. Highly applaud the Oxford comma, and, may be able to help you with keeping SU carbs' cool when needed at 35-40degsC. Feel free to PM me.

Marvellous, cheers!

[fivetenben]

markCSC said:

Some silly suggestions

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

Really silly suggestion
http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

Good luck!!

Silly? That's a whole troika of excellent suggestions you have there! (Well, except the Lincoln - spending 3 months convoying with a Rolls in one would be a tad humiliating... )

[BlueMR2]

Johnboy Mac said:

W126 500SE.

What are you trying to do to him?






560 surely .

[fivetenben]

CapriV6S said:

Rover P5b Coupe or P6 3500. Can just imagine the photos.

So can I





Anyhow, thanks so much for all the suggestions folks - I appreciate what a strange request for ideas this is; looking for a car to make a big trip in, but then prioritizing unlikeliness over reliability or practicality. Rest assured I appreciate all the suggestions, but in the strange place that is my mind, the reliability of a Lexus or Audi actually counts against it, despite such vehicles actually being among the best suggestions when you look at things rationally.

Come to think of it, that ^^^ probably explains why I drive an Alfa...

[DonkeyApple]

Nutter.

Right, the obvious choice is a Rangie Classic but 4x4s are out.

Cheap British sportscar that can be fixed by the road side? I'd buy a TVR Wedge. Or a similar bitsa from that era. No electronics and parts which can be bodged, found locally or swapped with something else.

You'll need to give whatever you take some better ground clearance and fit wheels which take a very common tyre size for the parts of the world you'll be in. The roads are not as good as you think.

Get something that runs of carbs so any local can help bodge it.

Burma is still closed and China is very difficult. Bikers are air freighting over as a result.

Don't take a piece of Americana. From the end of Turkey to well into India you'll be inviting trouble.

[Checkmate]

560 sec would appeal to me.

[jamoor]

fivetenben said:

Not finalized 100% yet, but the general plan is down to Turkey, then through Georgia into Azerbaijan. Then ferry from Baku to Turkmenistan, and up to Uzbekistan. Then through either Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan into China, and from there down to Hanoi.

Obviously, thanks to politics and suchlike, this may change. The only part of it which has to be absolutely set in concrete before we leave is our route through China, which we need to begin working to get clearance for at least 3 months before we leave.

We abandoned this idea due to the cost of getting through china, we got to isfahan in a 1998 honda shuttle that cost £400 and had 160k. Some of the roads even in Europe were awful.

However, I suggest you go for a V8 SUV, you will need ground clearance and the roads probbably are bad between here and vietnam.

Edited by jamoor on Thursday 6th September 18:08

Edited by jamoor on Thursday 6th September 18:10

[okie592]

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds?Cat...

alot of choices on this beta classifed, ide go jag! or that old e55

Edited by okie592 on Thursday 6th September 18:21

[Alex@POD]

OP, you are mental. Can I come along?

[CapriV6S]

Its an adventure mate. "On the road".

[EDLT]

How about going through Russia and North Korea, I'm sure they'd love to see an old Mustang over there.

[Rach*]

Hi Ben, absolutely brilliant adventure.

If you haven't found a tour guide for China yet I can highly recommend these guys
http://www.navo-tour.com/en/
Very reliable, organised, flexible and knowledgeable.

Will be following your blog with envy

[peatmoor]

Love the idea. A chimera would be amazing. I was in Vietnam earlier this year, you'll get so much attention from locals they are all super friendly...you might need to go to the gym to train your arms...for all the waving to kids you might cause a few accidents, the chim will be like nothing they've seen before.
Do it, do it!!

[Bill]

kwak said:

What about an mg zt v8? Maybe a bit above budget, but as unlikely as you will find, and still british.

They have a very low sump for starters.

[maxdb]

I would reconsider using a 4x4 to be fair. If not I would say an older Merc would be good as parts should hopefully be easy to obtain if something goes t.ts up..

[visual123]

If it's something massively inappropriate you're after, perhaps something big and American could be interesting:

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

But regardless, it sounds a fantastic idea and I wish you luck. Your Porsche in Africa trip sounded interesting, I just bought the kindle copy so I'll have a look at that!

[z4chris99]

people have done Tuktuks to Thailand so I'm sure whatever you choose will be fine.

loads do London to Mongolia every year, easy enough in sub £1000 sub 1.0l cars

[EDLT]

visual123 said:

If it's something massively inappropriate you're after, perhaps something big and American could be interesting:

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

But regardless, it sounds a fantastic idea and I wish you luck. Your Porsche in Africa trip sounded interesting, I just bought the kindle copy so I'll have a look at that!

Combine that with a tatty black suit and aviators, you could pretend to be a CIA agent that has been lost for thirty years.

[Harry Flashman]

That Zodiac with the 5.7 V8 that was suggested earlier. Amazing, and agriculturally simple and rugged.

And awesome, too.

[rswift]

I love this thread, just had a look at your website Ben, amazing ... so you obviously have experience of getting out of a corner worldwide, and a love of the obscure.

Rugged engineering, a bit leftfield, run on any old fuel...go East ...

Gaz, Zil & best of all air cooled Tatra, and according to Wikipedia (so it must be true) Volga did a mid nineties car with the Rover V8 fitted .... perfect.

No sure where you would find any of the above over here, but I was in Moscow earlier in the year, and big old down at heal Soviet Era cars were still in evidence, as everyone wants new euroboxes. May a pre trip trip !

Might be tempted to follow in my 1960 2cv....

Edited by rswift on Friday 7th September 11:11