It's not quite 'Around The World In 80 Days', but it's close enough! According to the Daily Mail:
A grandfather has survived Taliban attacks, floods and an earthquake, to win a bet by driving around the world in his MG Midget.
Roy Locock, 62, set off in his 1977 Midget, affectionately called Bridget, to travel 39,000 miles, travelling through 27 countries in just 16 months.
He decided to attempt the challenge, after his neighbour, Alan Lines, said he thought the trip 'couldn't be done'.
Within 12 weeks he took to the road with a boot full of spare parts and two sports bags holding his clothes in the passenger seat.
He completed the drive despite being caught up in an earthquake in Panama and a Taliban attack in Quetta, Pakistan.
Mr Locock said: 'I woke up one morning and the hotel was shaking.
'There was mortar fire outside, followed by small arms fire.
'The Taliban were firing on the army garrison next door.'
Despite those close encounters, the retired radio engineer said the only time he feared for his safety was during the worst floods in 30 years in the Northern Territories, Australia.
His trip took him through Western Europe to Iran, Pakistan and India before taking the boat Down Under via Thailand.
After a tour of Australia Mr Locock took another boat to Argentina from where he rode along the pan-American highway all the way to Canada before heading home.
He finally arrived back at his local MG Car Club to a sheepish welcome from his doubting neighbour.
Mr Lines said: 'It’s a fantastic achievement, and I’m delighted to be proven wrong.
'To be honest, I thought he’d get half way round the world and give up.'
Now that he is back the grandfather-of-two said his first priority was to catch up with his family.
For more information about his trip visit www.bridgetthemidget.co.uk.
There's more at the link, and much more information, including a diary of the trip, at Mr. Locock's Web site. Highly recommended reading.
Nice to see that the spirit of adventure is still alive and well!
Peter
Oh, memories! Had one way back when. Bought it new, got orders for Vietnam only months afterward in 1966, so my father drove it for a year, just to keep the battery up, of course. :-)
ReplyDeleteHad to sell it when the wife was pregnant with our first son in 1969 -- finally got so she couldn't get up and out of it anymore.
LOVED that little car except for having to balance the carbs.
WV: grinn
Oh, yes!
huh... I wonder how he got around the Darien Gap...
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