Photo via L’Auto-Satisfaction
After the first world war, there was a number of new technology available. Although cars had been converted to half tracks in Russia for a number of years, Citroen perfected the conversion and started marketing them heavily. In 1924, Andre Citroen authorized a team of Citroen half tracks to cross Africa. Not only would this team be the first to cross Africa via automobile, but they would be the first to cross the dreaded Sahara desert via auto.




The expedition, which was 28,000kms long, was called the Croisiere Noire, or Black Cruise. The intent of the expedition was to spread the word about how tough the Citroen cars were around the world. To lead the safari, Citroen picked his best executive manager, Georges-Marie Haardt. His grand daughter describes him as a very stylish and disciplined man. Every man in the expedition would follow his example and was forced to shave and dress well, no matter what lay ahead.




Of course, crossing Africa would not come without problems. There was mechanical breakdowns, particularly tracks and chains. The tracks were metal and rubber. The rubber wore off quickly in the rough terrain and sand. However, the mechanics did what they had to in order to survive. If you cannot repair your vehicle in the Sahara, you are as good as dead.

The natives were another concern, as they were unpredictable. Some were helpful and happy to see the explorers. Others wanted to fight. Many of the natives remembered the bloodshed of colonialism.



At one point, the Governor of what is now Kenya forced 40,000 natives to build a 400 mile road through the jungle to the Capital Stanleyville. This immense task only took 45 days! On June 14, 1925, the party reached the Indian Ocean. Some went directly to the Island of Madagascar via ferry while others went south to South Africa and took a boat back to the island. On June 22,1925 they all celebrated reaching their final destination of the Capital of Madagascar.

A year later, the video of the expedition was released to the public, which turned out in droves. Everyone was enthralled by not only the movie, but also the displays of African art, animals and other artifacts.

The success of the Croisere Noire fuels Citroen’s interest in cross country expeditions. Even with signs of the recession coming in the not to distant future, he starts preparing for a venture across Asia. This expedition will be one of our next articles!

Image courtesy of Land Rover Series One Club
We have not done some vintage expedition travel articles for a while, like the trip in a Land Rover from England to Africa in 1953. Well, we have another great Land Rover based expedition. In this case, the Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition in 1955 was a journey from London to Singapore. Six graduates of Oxford and Cambridge used two Land Rover Series I for the 18,000 mile expedition, which took place over six months and six days. Land Rover saw the expedition not only as a test for the vehicles, but an opportunity for publicity for the model’s launch in 1956. The expedition was thoroughly documented using film stock secured by Sir David Attenborough and the footage was broadcast on the BBC.
Information and videos via Aether Apparel . More photos available on the Land Rover Series One Club gallery.

A little bit over a year ago, reader Brian Terris submitted some photos of his Woodsman 4×4 RV. Recently, his wife Sheri commented on our Facebook page that they have done a lot work on this unique motorhome. The interior has been gutted and a lot of body work is finally finished. It still needs some work on the outside, but they are starting to see progress! I can’t wait to see it when they are done!

Well, it is not really a barn find Jeep CJ-5 camper, but it might as well be! Off Road Action reader Jeep Looker found this factory camperized 1969 Jeep CJ-5 on Ebay and posted on the Jeep CJ-5 Camper restoration article. This is probably the most rare Jeep as only 336 of these were made in 1969 only. I have never seen one in person and have seen very few photos of camperized Jeeps. Of course, this one needs a complete rebuild, but is has so much potential! The problem is that if I purchased and restored it, I would not want to take it off road and go camping. Knowing my luck, I would end up putting over a cliff like this driver almost did in these vintage Jeep CJ-5 camper photos. Imagine restoring one of the most rare jeeps, then driving it off a cliff….

We had lots of interest in our recent article about the restoration of a CJ-5 with a factory installed camper. Leo, one of our readers, directed us to Mike Leavensworth’s Flickr page. There we found photos of a camperized Jeep CJ-5 about to roll off a cliff! These photos were taken in 1969. Does anyone know more about this incident?

I love Willys Jeeps. Regular readers of this blog already know this. What you may not know is that visiting Africa is on my list of things to do in the next 20 years. I want to see lions and zebras in their natural habitat. I want to see the pyramids. But travelling across Egypt in two restored Willys Jeeps for two weeks? A group of explorers from England and Egypt are doing just that and are inviting you to join them! Their website says it all…

Join us for Easter 2011 on a unique trip to mark the 70th anniversary of the creation of The Long Range Desert Group.
We shall be driving many of the pistes they drove back in World War Two, through some of the most exciting and magnificent desert scenery the Sahara has to offer in a matched pair of genuine 1943 Jeeps.

Between the wars Major Ralph Bagnold, together many of his old chums would go out on self funded trips into the Sahara from their base in Cairo. In 1941 Bagnold was given just six weeks to create the Long Range Desert Group. We have had a little longer to plan our trip!

Our two 1943 Jeeps will land in Alexandria Port on Sunday April 17th to embark on a 13 day adventure, covering about 1200 miles of pure desert driving. From Cairo, southwest to Ain Della, then on as far south as Gilf el Kebir, ‘8 Bells’, then back north, through the Great Sand Sea to ‘Big Cairn’, and on to Siwa, for so long the base of the LRDG. We shall end the tour with celebratory cocktails in The Cecil Hotel at ‘Monty’s Bar’, little changed since the LRDG celebrated there after their own trips.

In October, we featured a camperized 1966 Ford Bronco for sale, along with a later article with more photos that the owner sent us. At that time, we mentioned that the camper Bronco had been sold to someone in Michigan. We knew who the new owner was, but were not allowed to say…It is now public knowledge that Jeff’s Bronco Graveyard purchased the early Ford Bronco and will be restoring it. Check out the gallery of photos on their website!

Imagine surfing through Craigslist and coming across a 1966 Jeep J3000 truck with an Alaskan camper. Of course, there is no photo. A quick phone call and the owner states that although it has 137,000 miles, it is pretty clean and in good shape overall. You know, the standard little old lady drove it only on Sundays story. So you decide to take a look and find a barn find Jeep truck and camper with only 13,500 miles! The seats, dash and pedals are all in great shape! F3X from Expedition Portalis one lucky SOB. This is exactly what happened to him. He has replaced the plug wires, battery and rebuilt the carb and plans to slowly fix the old girl up. Lets just say that I am very jealous of him!

Regular readers will remember our series of articles on early SUV’s such as Broncos and Blazers with popup campers. We recently came across this 1978 Ford Bronco with a popup camper. There is not much information in the ad, but the Bronco appears to be in good shape.

Years ago, I heard a story about 3 Corvairs that crossed the Darrien Gap in South America. Honestly, I passed it off as gossip. The version I had heard was that the cars started in Alaska and drove the complete Pan American highway. The cars were in such good shape that they decided to cross the impassable Darien Gap. Yeah….



In fact, Chevrolet drove 3 Corvairs through the Darien Gap in 1961. The cars were actually the same cars that drove the Pan American highway from the USA, through Mexico and to the then-end of the Pan American Highway. I am not sure what prompted the team to continue driving through the swamp land that seperates Panama and Columbia. One car was left in the jungle, while the two remaining cars were left in South America. They probably ended up as taxis or chicken haulers. Although the details are sketchy, one crew member was confirmed killed. It is rumoured that the death was caused by a wild animal. Sources: Corvairs.org
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