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

[MissChief]

I take it his wife passed away at some point? What a shame but good on him for doing it. he's been everywhere!

[RRG]

Yep, overlanding is probably more fun and absorbing than fast cars.

The Wife and I took a year off to exercise the Rangie and did London - Cape Town. 18,000miles, 19 countries and also no breakdowns (okay, the parking sensors packed up). Epic car, epic journey, one of the best things we ever did. Albeit only a fraction of what this amazing man has achieved.

You can read our story and see the pictures here:
http://www.lilongwedown.com/LilongweDown/Home.html

[kennyken1988]

Those bridges looked nice !

[hman]

nice to know that whilst we are all at work - theres a guy out there keeping the dream alive.

[traffman]

What an utterly inspiring story.

Makes such a change to witness someone whom has not blogged or facebooked his entire story for once.

God bless him.

[howardhughes]

A fantastic story. Truly humbling.

[SunDiver]

Lovely old fella.
What a journey. What an experience.
He's really lived hasn't he...?

[ceebmoj]

hman said:

nice to know that whilst we are all at work - theres a guy out there keeping the dream alive.

Very much so. Some days I realise that my life is small and meaning less. Must try harder.

[soad]

Wow, what a story.

[Irish]

soad said:

Wow, what a story.

Indeed. More info here: http://www.autoweb.com.au/cms/A_108959/title_Merce...

[3ftandclean]

Must've felt so lonely without his wife by his side. Great story.

[Rumblestripe]

Forget about heroes like Senna or McRae, this guy has it nailed. An absolute inspiration, his wife died a few years ago but before she died she told him to keep on travelling as "she would be watching ŧo see that he did!"

I hope that when his ŧime does come, they bury him in "Otto", it'd be awful if Otto ended up in a museum in Stuttgart. In the words of another hero (Young, N.) "Herr Holtorf, long may you run"

[beardedstew]

"is most definitely a proper G-Wagen, without a hint of AMG bling or any other such nonsense!"

They are AMG Alloys though aren't they?, but period correct and not really bling. They suit the blue better than steels would I reckon.

[treetops]

I saw a prog on the BBC recently that featured stories of Americans on the move. They reckoned there about 500,000 retirees who had sold everything bought flash motor homes and were spending the inheritance. Fab stuff!

[Irish]

beardedstew said:

"is most definitely a proper G-Wagen, without a hint of AMG bling or any other such nonsense!"

They are AMG Alloys though aren't they?, but period correct and not really bling. They suit the blue better than steels would I reckon.

Top lurking beardedstew. Straight in with an AMG related correction.

[John Boy 616]

Superb

[atco]

Irish said:

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-...

As been the ex managing director of Hapag Lloyd which is one of the largest shipping companies in the world helps with the finances.........

[fivetenben]

German said:

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

Na, keep the '944 and go overlanding anyway. It's the perfect trans-African vehicle. ;-)





http://www.bencoombs.net/africanporsche_tripreport...

Joking aside though, hats off to them. What an awesome achievement

[gdaybruce]

I wonder if there was a kind of golden age for vehicle design: when machinery had become robust and generally reliable (especially the likes of alternators, starter motors and electrical conectors generally) but electronic engine management had not taken over so the average competent bush mechanic could still fix most things by the roadside with 'normal' tools. If so, I guess the LR equivalent of the G Wagon would be something like a 200 Tdi Defender?

[Embryonic]

Brilliant. Can't wait to read all of these links tomorrow when I get chance. What a truly amazing time he must have had.