Pan-American Highway Land Rover trio completes 1961
expedition
- 11 August 2015
- From the section Bristol
Three men whose road-trip across the Americas was cut
short by the Alaskan winter in 1961 have finally finished their journey to the
Arctic Circle.
Mike
Andrews, 76, Martin Hugh-Jones, 79, and Ben Mackworth-Praed, 79, covered the
last leg of a 40,000 mile trip in their original Land Rover.
They drove
the 1960 Series 2 vehicle from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Coast, on
Monday.
Mr.
Andrews, of Bristol, said: "Like us it shows its age, but keeps
going."
The three
men were Cambridge graduates when they set out on the mammoth road trip through 17 countries
from the southern tip of Argentina up to the most northerly US state in
September 1960 on the Pan-American Highway.
'It
was amazing'
But
when they got to Fairbanks, the road came to an end and they were beaten back
by the Alaskan winter. They sold the Land Rover to pay for their air fares
home.
In 2010,
the vehicle resurfaced in Alaska, when its owner read an article about the
original trip and recognized the expedition logo on the side.
The Series
2 vehicle was restored by enthusiast Eddie Angel and the three men reunited in
Alaska this week, to join Mr. Angel and journalist Mike Rudd on the final 500
miles of the trip, accompanied by a convoy of other vintage Land Rovers, driven
by local enthusiasts.
Mr. Andrews
said they had "arrived at the shore of the Beaufort Sea in freezing
temperatures and steady rain at Endicott Island, Prudhoe Bay" after
driving for two days.
"It
was amazing, not just to be at the wheel our old vehicle again, but with my
original companions to complete the final leg of our voyage from Ushuaia,
Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, which we had to abandon in December 1961,"
said Mr. Andrews.
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