England to Australia 50th Anniversary VW Kombi Rally
The 1960’s saw waves of travellers doing the overland “Kangaroo Route” from UK to Calcutta then shipping on to Australia. Everything from bicycles to double-deck buses thronged the roads. Around 50% of the chosen vehicles were VW Kombi transporters, buses, vans and campers.
2017 is the 50th anniversary of the heaviest traffic 1967 year and it seems a great time to recreate the journey.
In September 2017 it is proposed to run the rally from London to Sydney using only rear-engine VW Kombi variants. A maximum 15 vehicles will be entered and no support vehicles or camp followers will be allowed,
There will be an entry fee to help cover the cost of the survey trip in late 2016 and support the lead vehicle on the journey (a Kombi of course). There will be guidance and assistance with route planning, administration and group shipping from Calcutta to Perth. Everyone will get about 3 weeks break during the shipping before finishing with the Perth to Sydney drive. The entrants will be responsible for their own costs to allow each person to control his finances according to his means.
There will be camping most of the way but nearly everywhere there will be a nearby hotel for those so inclined. To keep the numbers under control there will be a maximum 4 people allowed per vehicle (2 per vehicle is highly preferred). Crews may be changed or rotated at any convenient place. Although there will be planned maintenance/sight seeing days it will be a long constantly moving trip and adults will be very glad to get to bed on some nights – no children under 14.
The route will hopefully be the original via Turkey, Iran and Pakistan but if security becomes a problem it will be on the safe route via Turkey, Georgia and through the “Stans” and China into India from the north.
A very rough estimate of your total outlay for two people shipping a vehicle from Australia including airfares, 6 weeks enroute costs, Calcutta-Perth shipping, entry fee etc might be about $US25,000. If non-Europeans buy a vehicle in Europe it will reduce the cost by around $US5,000. If we go via China it may add $US5,000 for the Chinese clearances and compulsory escort.
If there is enough interest we will continue the planning. We have successfully run quite a few international expeditions with old vehicles in the past. http://www.next-horizon.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Contact Lang Kidby langleykidby at gmail.com
The 1960’s saw waves of travellers doing the overland “Kangaroo Route” from UK to Calcutta then shipping on to Australia. Everything from bicycles to double-deck buses thronged the roads. Around 50% of the chosen vehicles were VW Kombi transporters, buses, vans and campers.
2017 is the 50th anniversary of the heaviest traffic 1967 year and it seems a great time to recreate the journey.
In September 2017 it is proposed to run the rally from London to Sydney using only rear-engine VW Kombi variants. A maximum 15 vehicles will be entered and no support vehicles or camp followers will be allowed,
There will be an entry fee to help cover the cost of the survey trip in late 2016 and support the lead vehicle on the journey (a Kombi of course). There will be guidance and assistance with route planning, administration and group shipping from Calcutta to Perth. Everyone will get about 3 weeks break during the shipping before finishing with the Perth to Sydney drive. The entrants will be responsible for their own costs to allow each person to control his finances according to his means.
There will be camping most of the way but nearly everywhere there will be a nearby hotel for those so inclined. To keep the numbers under control there will be a maximum 4 people allowed per vehicle (2 per vehicle is highly preferred). Crews may be changed or rotated at any convenient place. Although there will be planned maintenance/sight seeing days it will be a long constantly moving trip and adults will be very glad to get to bed on some nights – no children under 14.
The route will hopefully be the original via Turkey, Iran and Pakistan but if security becomes a problem it will be on the safe route via Turkey, Georgia and through the “Stans” and China into India from the north.
A very rough estimate of your total outlay for two people shipping a vehicle from Australia including airfares, 6 weeks enroute costs, Calcutta-Perth shipping, entry fee etc might be about $US25,000. If non-Europeans buy a vehicle in Europe it will reduce the cost by around $US5,000. If we go via China it may add $US5,000 for the Chinese clearances and compulsory escort.
If there is enough interest we will continue the planning. We have successfully run quite a few international expeditions with old vehicles in the past. http://www.next-horizon.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Contact Lang Kidby langleykidby at gmail.com
