Showing posts with label porsche. Show all posts
Showing posts with label porsche. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

"Without problems, there is no adventure"

Ben Coombs - Mongol Rally
A few months ago I stumbled on the website of Ben Coombs - an adventurer dedicated to driving unusual vehicles across some of the most famous overland routes.  His first epic driving adventure was in a team as part of the Mongol Rally.  His vehicle of choice: an old Mini.

Since then he has undertaken a few more unique trips, one of which he has detailed in his book & ebook and which I previously mentioned blog post: Overland in a classic Porsche

Survival of the Quickest
My reason for mentioning Ben again is to encourage you to read his book. His writing style, frank and open, will keep you entertained as you journey overland with him and his travel companions.  He is not shy to express his anxiety levels as the old Porsche creaks over rutted roads, or the tough team dynamics after a long day and night drive. I was captivated by his words and was silently encouraging him along the journey as the Porsche scraped through another pothole. I found myself longing to be the passenger, and driver on this trip.

Not many overlanders take his approach to an overland adventure:
I wanted the journey to be a challenge.  I wanted it to be uncertain.  A reliable 4x4 just wouldn’t offer the same potential for problems.  Without problems, there is no adventure. 
Ben Coombs

Monday, September 3, 2012

Africa Overland in a classic Porsche

Ever considered trans-continental overland travel with a Porsche?
Throughout the decades of overland travel there have been a many unusual overland vehicles which have completed full trans-Africa overland journeys... these unique vehicles include a tractor, Quad bikes, a Rolls Royce, a Smart car and now a classic Porsche.

Ben Coombs, driver and author of his book 'Survival of the Quickest' departed the UK in the autumn of 2008 heading South to Cape Town via the East coast of Africa.

The UK Telegraph magazine published a few photographs of this epic overland journey. The photos are available here: Across Africa in a classic Porsche.
These are a few my favourite photos:


I highly recommend reading his book and to get a feel for his journey watch the video from Northern Kenya:

The AfricanPorsche Expedition - Northern Kenya from Ben Coombs on Vimeo.

Interested in more Porsche content? Read all about Ben's trip via his website Bencoombs.net or his previous misadventures in a blog called 80breakdowns.
His Flickr stream via Flickr: fivetenben

His book 'Survival of the Quickest' is available on the Kindle via Amazon UK.



Additional reading:
Unusual overland vehicles
Mercedes Benz 300d