Tuesday 11 February 2014

How will the Dodge go?

Check out this 1920 promo here

On the road

We originally planned to drive from Hanoi to Helsinki. Vietnam has now banned right hand drive cars so we are shipping to Thailand. So no more "Hanoi to Helsinki", it's now Bondi to the Baltic. The cars will ship from Sydney and Fremantle in March, to the Thai port of Laem Chabang, near Bangkok. We expect to set out on the road in the last week of April, aiming to cross into China before the 3 day holiday for International Labour Day, 1-3 May. The vintage cars do 50 km/hr and we would prefer to limit our travel to about 200 km per day, so the 1300km of this leg could take 7 days, with minimal sightseeing.

The road map

The cars

The stars of this story are 2 vintage cars, a 1920 Dodge Tourer and a 1927 Willys Overland Whippet.  The Dodge was bought by Ian Neuss in 1961 from the family of original owner Jack Lye of Tamworth, NSW.  Ian has restored the car to original condition over the last decade.  The Whippet is owned by Bill Amann of Mt Pleasant, WA.  Bill is a Whippet enthusiast and has another one in the shed, as well as a couple of engines and various parts.