Have a petrolhead's holiday

600 miles in a rickshaw

By PH Staff / Tuesday, 11 July 2006 / Loading comments

You don't have to be crazy but...

Now here's a totally bonkers petrolhead holiday. It's for all those who can’t get through a holiday without renting a smoke-belching two-stroke moped. This ultimate adventure involves a week and 1,000km through southern India driving a 150cc rickshaw.

The organisers of the inaugural Indian Auto Rickshaw Challenge are targeting mainly British adrenalin junkies looking for a different way to experience India, and are expecting as many as 50 teams to turn up for the start day.

Teams of two pay a flat fee to rent the three-wheeler and drive it from the traffic choked city of Chennai (formerly Madras) down rural roads to India’s southern tip, a distance of nearly 600 miles.

Once past the town -- dubbed India’s Detroit for its huge car industry -- the teams will max the scooter-engined rickshaw to its 31mph top speed, hopefully avoiding south Asia’s notoriously unruly traffic on the way.

Organiser Aravind Bremanandam, veteran of cut-price Paris-Dakar imitator the Budapest-Bamako Rally, is confident the 7bhp power maximum will prevent any major incidents. “Their best safety feature is the low top speed,” he says.

The autorickshaws use air-cooled engines that trace their roots back to early Vespas, and are almost comically simple. The fuel gauge is a dipstick and to start them requires a hefty pull on a large floor-mounted lever.

In India they are solely used as taxis, but as rally vehicles? “Adventure racing is a growing market,” says Aravind. “But I’ve been noticing it’s become a bit bland, a bit too serious. So I thought I’d stir it up a bit. And what better place than India and what better vehicle than the auto rickshaw?”

The rally is more laidback than the description implies, with no serious timechecks or stages. After reaching Kanniyakumari on Tamil Nadu’s southern-most point, the 1300 Euro cost (approximately £900 per two-person team) includes a train ride for the team and their rickshaw back to Chennai. Flights are extra.

It starts on 21 August.