Thats work in progress making the Hillman Imp fit and ready to attempt the drive across Africa to Great Britain.
Jolon
The Imp is presently being wired for success by my friend and fellow historic racer Frank Copping of MOBILECTRIC. So in a few days i expect we will be able to fire up the engine and start giving the little Imp its first real road tests.
What still remains to be completed is the installation of the alu skid plates fore and aft to help us cope with the inevitable rough terrain of Africa, especially in Northern Kenya where the advice from Kenya is to attempt the road past Moyale into Ethiopia only if you have the very best off road 4×4 that money can buy! Well ours is not quite a 4×4 so may the Gods be good to us!
Geoff Biermann recently joined the expedition since my original co-pilot was not able to commit. Geoff will be a welcome travel companion having lived if a few African states throughout his life and is the owner of a car service & maintenance operation.
On Monday Jan 14th a fundraising dinner & auction was organised at Scrooge Diner to generate some necessary funding for the trip. A generous outpouring of gifts resulted in Terence being presented with a massive array of varied items to sell off during the evening. Items such as professional racing goggles kit, pit shirts of various teams from South Africa to Europe including a Schumacher signed shirt, massive bottles of wine, limited edition bottles of whisky and various other items from very supportive friends. Not least was a wonderful painting by the famous artist Gary Seitz who created a painting depicting the journey from Johannesburg to London by this tiny British car.
Apart from the fact that the funds generated on the even will be enough to cover our fuel bill form Johannesburg to London the event was a particularly special occasion and with the car in centre stage in the actual restaurant adorned with the auction items it set the scene for a great kick start to our final preparations.
Terence Tracey is on the left, it is he who is leading this idea.
Jolon
http://jolonimp.wordpress.com/ read the full story here
JoLon Imp 2013 is within spitting distance of commencing its arduous 12, 000 kilometre rhino saving and blindness banishing journey.
Yep it’s official. On Sunday 17th of March 2013 Terence Tracey and his new travel partner Geoff Biermann will lead a convoy of various classic cars and bikes past Pretoria on their way to their first night destination, Francistown in Botswana. The convoy is an informal arrangement where supporters of this voyage JoLon Imp 2013 are invited to tag along for the first 50 or so kilos to give Terence and Geoff a jolly good send off.The Imp is presently being wired for success by my friend and fellow historic racer Frank Copping of MOBILECTRIC. So in a few days i expect we will be able to fire up the engine and start giving the little Imp its first real road tests.
What still remains to be completed is the installation of the alu skid plates fore and aft to help us cope with the inevitable rough terrain of Africa, especially in Northern Kenya where the advice from Kenya is to attempt the road past Moyale into Ethiopia only if you have the very best off road 4×4 that money can buy! Well ours is not quite a 4×4 so may the Gods be good to us!
Geoff Biermann recently joined the expedition since my original co-pilot was not able to commit. Geoff will be a welcome travel companion having lived if a few African states throughout his life and is the owner of a car service & maintenance operation.
On Monday Jan 14th a fundraising dinner & auction was organised at Scrooge Diner to generate some necessary funding for the trip. A generous outpouring of gifts resulted in Terence being presented with a massive array of varied items to sell off during the evening. Items such as professional racing goggles kit, pit shirts of various teams from South Africa to Europe including a Schumacher signed shirt, massive bottles of wine, limited edition bottles of whisky and various other items from very supportive friends. Not least was a wonderful painting by the famous artist Gary Seitz who created a painting depicting the journey from Johannesburg to London by this tiny British car.
Apart from the fact that the funds generated on the even will be enough to cover our fuel bill form Johannesburg to London the event was a particularly special occasion and with the car in centre stage in the actual restaurant adorned with the auction items it set the scene for a great kick start to our final preparations.
