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

[mig25_foxbat2003]

fivetenben said:

I'm glad you (and others who have mirrored your sentiments) enjoyed it - thanks for saying so as it kinda makes the years of effort writing the thing worth it. I am indeed planning to write a sequel about V8Nam; hope this trip doesn't generate quite as much material to work with though, if you catch my drift!

So Mr Foxbat, are you still tempted to stalk us across Asia in an old XJ8?

Not now I've read the book - you're a grumpy sod

[fivetenben]

mig25_foxbat2003 said:

Not now I've read the book - you're a grumpy sod

Touche!

[fivetenben]

Car No.2 has been purchased. And brimmed:



Full details tomorrow; in the meantime, if you see a really skint bloke driving a massive car across Dorset & Devon this evening, that'll be my mate Brummy - give him a wave!

[John_S4x4]

Sounds interesting - I was going to make the REALLY silly suggestion of this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/V8-640-DENNIS-HESTAIR-FI...

[irocfan]

John_S4x4 said:

Sounds interesting - I was going to make the REALLY silly suggestion of this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/V8-640-DENNIS-HESTAIR-FI...

now that would have been awesome!!

[fivetenben]

Ladies and gentlemen - the V8Nam fleet is complete!



England to Vietnam in a Rolls Royce and a Corvette; roll on next April!

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions of what cars to take, and the general advice and comments on route planning and red tape - I'll start a trip thread over the weekend so anyone who's interested can follow (and laugh at) our incompetent progress...

Ben

[AJS-]

This is delightfully bonkers. Sorry if you've posted already but will you be blogging as you go? Link?

[jbi]

brilliant

my personal choice would have been a london taxi with a v8 in it, or a crown vic... but I like your idea too

[AJS-]

I like the sheer impracticality of it. What is the time scale? Thailand, Vietnam etc get torrential rain starting in around July or August, and I can see the Corvette especially not coping too well.

[fivetenben]

AJS- said:

I like the sheer impracticality of it. What is the time scale? Thailand, Vietnam etc get torrential rain starting in around July or August, and I can see the Corvette especially not coping too well.

The trip blog will be at www.80breakdowns.com, and I'll keep a thread here updated too.

Timescale is 3 months. We're planning on UK-Vietnam taking 2 months, with a further month exploring S.E. Asia, travelling from Hanoi down to Singapore - so April/May getting to Vietnam, then June travelling from Hanoi to Singapore. Hopefully we'll dodge the monsoon, but if we don't, well at least we'll probably end up with some good stories to tell...

[AJS-]

fivetenben said:

The trip blog will be at www.80breakdowns.com, and I'll keep a thread here updated too.

Timescale is 3 months. We're planning on UK-Vietnam taking 2 months, with a further month exploring S.E. Asia, travelling from Hanoi down to Singapore - so April/May getting to Vietnam, then June travelling from Hanoi to Singapore. Hopefully we'll dodge the monsoon, but if we don't, well at least we'll probably end up with some good stories to tell...

I'm sure you'll have stories to tell either way. Once you're in Thailand it shouldn't be so bad. I haven't been to Vietnam but I know Laos and Cambodia to be full of rutted roads that wash out in the wet season.

Are you shipping the cars back from Singapore?

[fivetenben]

AJS- said:

Are you shipping the cars back from Singapore?

Haven't decided yet - if we can get our money back by selling them in S.E.Asia then that's probably what we'll do, if not we'll ship 'em back. Yet another thing which needs researching!

[jbi]

don't they have laws in those countries to stop foreign cars being dumped there?

[mig25_foxbat2003]

Great choice! The quintessential British car vs the quintessential American car... now you need to live up to each respective country's tourist stereotype. You'll need to wander around with an enormous camera, being obnoxious and loudly berating the locals for the lack of a McDonalds. Brummy, meanwhile, needs to wear a pith helmet, khaki suit, and at every opportunity proclaim "We used to have an empire, dontcha know?"

[g3org3y]

fivetenben said:

Ladies and gentlemen - the V8Nam fleet is complete!



England to Vietnam in a Rolls Royce and a Corvette; roll on next April!

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions of what cars to take, and the general advice and comments on route planning and red tape - I'll start a trip thread over the weekend so anyone who's interested can follow (and laugh at) our incompetent progress...

Ben

Awesome!!

Ben I'm currently reading your book, loving it so far. My only point of disappointment was the lack of photos. Seems like such a shame given the epic journey (esp as the photos from your website are so good!).

[Rach*]

fivetenben said:

AJS- said:

Are you shipping the cars back from Singapore?

Haven't decided yet - if we can get our money back by selling them in S.E.Asia then that's probably what we'll do, if not we'll ship 'em back. Yet another thing which needs researching!

Fiona shipped Pedro back from Singapore, I'll hook you up on Facebook, she's Kil7er or Ki7ler on here, but can't find her

[fivetenben]

jbi said:

don't they have laws in those countries to stop foreign cars being dumped there?

Generally yes; however in many countries said laws aren't that effective and you can get away with 'dumping' a car quite easily. With this trip, the cars we're taking are sufficiently valuable that it may well be worth going through the proper import procedure, depending on what condition they're in at the end of the trip, and hence what they'd be worth in SE Asia. We'll have to do the maths and see...

mig25_foxbat2003 said:

Great choice! The quintessential British car vs the quintessential American car... now you need to live up to each respective country's tourist stereotype. You'll need to wander around with an enormous camera, being obnoxious and loudly berating the locals for the lack of a McDonalds. Brummy, meanwhile, needs to wear a pith helmet, khaki suit, and at every opportunity proclaim "We used to have an empire, dontcha know?"

I approve of this suggestion wholeheartedly - and Brummy rarely needs any encouragement to dress up and talk about the empire in a superior manner...

g3org3y said:

Ben I'm currently reading your book, loving it so far. My only point of disappointment was the lack of photos. Seems like such a shame given the epic journey (esp as the photos from your website are so good!).

I have to say, you're not the only one to say 'nice book, shame about the lack of pics.' I wanted to include some, but the company I'm publishing it through (Createspace) are set up primarily for the fiction market, and hence don't allow colour photo inserts, and I don't think B&W pictures would really do it justice. Shame, as I agree that a few pictures would 'complete' it - but for now, I'm afraid the ones on my website will have to suffice...

PS- I'm glad you're enjoying it, and sorry I'm a 'grumpy sod' in the first few chapters!

Rach* said:

Fiona shipped Pedro back from Singapore, I'll hook you up on Facebook, she's Kil7er or Ki7ler on here, but can't find her

Thanks Rach*, you're a legend. I'll drop her a line...

[david.h]

There was a Corniche in the 2004 London to Sydney...ok that was a Rally with special stages timed to the 100th of a second, but it did struggle a bit. I remember seeing it on day 2 in Belgium with what seemed to be brakes on fire! Sadly it dropped out in Turkey with intermittent electrical gremlins & eventually a water pump failure finished matters,
Great trip good luck!

[fivetenben]

david.h said:

There was a Corniche in the 2004 London to Sydney...ok that was a Rally with special stages timed to the 100th of a second, but it did struggle a bit. I remember seeing it on day 2 in Belgium with what seemed to be brakes on fire! Sadly it dropped out in Turkey with intermittent electrical gremlins & eventually a water pump failure finished matters,
Great trip good luck!

Bodes well, doesn't it?!

As the 'what car' part of the trip is now finished, I've started a new thread here so interested folk can follow the trip.

Thanks for all the suggestions and knowledgeable advice folks, it's much appreciated!