"Vargius" (Vargius)
01/06/2014 at 09:11 • Filed to: None
2
0|
"Vargius" (Vargius)
01/06/2014 at 09:11 • Filed to: None | 2
| 0 |
Meet Einar Brenne (29), Daniel Thøring Sivertsen (27), Alexander Rapstad (27) and Andreas Zell Thime (29) from Norway. These young fellows set out on Thursday 2. of January on a trip of a lifetime. Their goal? Drive 7000 km from Oslo, Norway to Gambia to sell an old Mercedes as a cab.
- It all started as a joke that we would drive to Gambia because Alexanders stepfather has a vacation home there, which we have previously vacated in, but now we are on the road. The car we originally thought about using on the trip broke down, so we bought an old Mercedes instead, Einar Brenne tells to a reporter from Norwegian local newspaper !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (link in Norwegian).
The trip the boys have called "Gamball 7000", clearly inspired by the "Gumball 3000" challenge, a yearly event where the rich and beautiful race their cars on various trips around the globe.
The 4 guys are of course not amateurs. 3 of them are certified mechanics where the last is a "certified" hobby mechanic. The crew had a minor setback crossing the Alps, but are now on the road again to Gambia.
- The reason that we had some technical difficulties as we were riding on some dark roads in the Alps the night before Saturday while it was snowing, is that a fixing bolt for a belt in the engine tore off, so we had to make a make-shift belt to get us down from the Alps. As there were no parts where we headed, and we couldn't continue without them, we took the train to Milano in hope of finding something there, Einar continues.
Though they had no such luck. The parts were nowhere to be found, and they had to order them from somewhere else, which could take days to deliver. Luckily, one of their friends flew down from Norway with the correct parts, allowing the guys to continue on the trip originally planned to take 11 days. Their friend would follow them down to Barcelona, where he would fly home again.
- Its just fantastic! Brenne exclaims.
This is only of the many challenges the crew will face on their 7000 km (roughly 4300 mile) trip down to Gambia, including a 17 hour drive through the Sahara desert.
On arrival they plan on selling the Mercedes as a cab. They already have a buyer for the car.
- We already have someone who is interested in the car in Gambia, so we're hoping that everything will be OK when we register the car for sale. The car will have to be painted yellow and green if it's to be used as a cab in Gambia, something we will do before we sell it. Brenne says.
Here's to hoping that they will have a safe and wonderful trip! We all know that crossing the Sahara desert in an old car can be a challenge in itself. Not only will they have to battle extreme heat, bandits are also a menace in the area.
You can follow their progress on Facebook !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .