Expedition News

1949 Record - Press Cuttings discovered

One of the services offered at Beaulieu is through the National Motor Museum Trust, a charitable organisation dedicated to preserving and promoting motoring history. It has a world famous collection of vehicles and associated motoring items, many of which are on display in the National Motor Museum itself.

The Trust has an educational mission and cares for very large collections of objects, images, documents and books in its Collections Centre, located close to the Museum. It also provides a Motoring Research Service to answer motoring enquiries from both professional and amateur researchers. This research team that have uncovered some fascinating articles about the 1949 record of Ralph Sleigh and Peter Jopling and their Austin A70.

London to Cape Town - Reaction to new World Record

Eric Jackson, holder of the record from 1963 said, ?I know how difficult the trip is and I have great admiration for Mac and the team and whilst I'd like to have kept the record for a lot longer I am delighted for Mac, Steve and Chris.?

Commenting on the extra technology used that wasn't available to him in 1963, such as GPS, he said, ?They broke the record fair and square. Believe me, if GPS, mobile phones, satellite tracking and so forth had been available in 1963, we would have used them too. Mac, Chris and Steve from Max Adventure have done a splendid job - it's a rough trip - and the guys generated funds for a worthy charity?. Full article >

Max Adventure Break London to Cape Town Record

The new record now stands at 11 DAYS 14 HOURS 11 MINUTES this is 1 Day 18 Hours 37 Minutes inside the previous record.

The team arrived in Cape Town at 11:29 BST on 28th October to a reception including more than 20 Land Rovers and crowds of well wishers and photographers. They are currently having photos taken for the sponsors before going onto a reception at the Cape Town Land Rover dealership. Full article >

Into Botswana

As I write this, the team are currently steaming south across the vast flat Kazuma Pan in the north-eastern territory of Botswana.

The team had to make a last minute decision as to which way they were going to enter Botswana - across the Kazungula ferry from Zambia, or via Victoria Falls bridge and Zimbabwe. It all boiled down to border opening times and best guess calculations for how long the ferry would take versus 2 border control points with their Customs & Immigration requirements. Full article >

The True Hero

As I have briefly explained, the main reason for choosing a Land Rover Discovery 2 Td5 was based on the ability to fit a decent sized bed in the back. However, as good as she was in standard form, she has undergone some major improvements to ensure that she was ready to take on the challenges of the London to Cape Town run head-on. Full article >

South Africa - Final Push to the Finish

There was a bit of a heart stopping moment when expedition leader Mac had his passport taken away for extra scrutiny. There seemed to be some confusion by the South African Immigration Officers with regards to his entry stamp when crossing from Zambia into Botswana this morning. Fortunately though, and with much relief to Mac who had visions of his co-drivers arriving triumphantly in Cape Town without him, his passport was returned and the team could go on their way.

A quick and friendly chat with the Customs Officers and at 19:23, the team entered their final country. The 21st flag was affixed to the bonnet of the car, circling the Max Adventure logo - a fantastic site and achievement in its own right, to have driven to South Africa in such a short time. Full article >

Adventurers Required

Max Adventure has a variety of projects in the pipeline for which we would like to have a pool of pre-approved personnel available.

The expedition world runs on practical skills. Swashbuckling as a talent has slipped down the requirements list in recent times - that is not to say it isn't on the list. Full article >

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