How Two Crazy Canucks Survived the Crap Car Rally to Mongolia

Filed in archive Canadian Cars , Fun Events , Rally/Retro-Rally , Roads to Remember on November 28, 2007

Today my copy of Westworld magazine arrived, a bi-monthly travel/auto mag send out as a reward for joining the BCAA (British Columbia Automobile Association), which I did during my most recent failed attempt at owning a classic car. The cover article is an account of an adventure by auto that is amusing and even a bit scary. It's entitled Road Trip: Mongol Warriors, an account of two brave and foolhardy Regina neighbors, Jason Menvielle and Michael Vaughan, who entered a "crap car rally" for charity. To appreciate the nuttiness of this affair, you must realise that it starts in London England, ends in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and must be driven in a car that was purchased for less than $800 Canadian. The team, along with nearly 200 international entrants, attempted to traverse a quarter of the world's surface in a rusting 1993 Geo Metro that was purchased from Mike's mother for a loonie. That's Canadian slang for a dollar, though it might better be used to describe the two guys who made the trip in what they affectionately dubbed the Hosermobile.

Actually the car turned out to be more reliable (until they reached Mongolia) than their credit cards, their maps, their schedule, and much of the food consumed enroute (the "World's Worst Truck Stop Sandwiches" is an example). The pair faced disorder at the border several times, forded rivers, dodged livestock, were swarmed by teens demanding money at an ATM, got pulled over for driving offences three times in Prague. "I have a feeling we're not in Regina anymore" was a common refrain. Lucky for us the article is online at the BCAA site and makes for wonderful reading. Don't be dismayed by "Part I: London to Istanbul" in the subtitle; by clicking on www.bcaa.com/rally at the end of the page you'll get more of the story, including "a ferry ride on an old rusting remnant of the Soviet fleet probably from the late forties or early fifties... run by a bunch of thugs from the Azerbaijan Military Marine Service." Crap car rallies are the new fad in the UK. We have them here, too. They're called "rush hour."