You want to REALLY abuse a car?? Take a little car like a 1967 204 Peugot wagon, put 4 full sized adults in it (2 big men, one scrawny Limey runt, and a 5'8" young lady) and 1000 lbs of supplies,as well as 2 jerry cans of gasoline strapped to the roof then chase it from the southern tip of Zambia(Livingstone-Victoria Falls) to the northern tip ( Mbereshi - almost the Kenyan border) in the middle of the rainy season. The Great north road wasn't bad in the seventies, but from the Copperbelt up through the pedicle of Zaire, and the rest of the way into Luapula province, the roads were very poor gravel with lots of washouts. You either drove under 30mph or over 60, and we didn't have 2 weeks to do the trip, so it was hit one bump and fly over the next 6 or 8. Every couple hours it was time to get out the hammer and pound the rims back into shape. That's what Michelin Air-Stops are made for - tubeless would not have lasted 10 miles. We did the trip in 3 days each direction. One drive axle seized solid in my driveway when I got back to Livingstone.
Or try rallying. The 1972 Renault R12 took an awful beating for 3 seasons - and it was a "non-prepared" car. Totally stock, no re-enforcements whatsoever, and it NEVER broke on a rally. We chased that poor car all over Ontario from Windsor to Tamagami to Peterborough every weekend from may to labour day.
Built like a Mercedes 3674Steve Interesting because as I remember it there were few emmission controls in Europe until catalytic convertors became mandatory...
That said, for long distance trans-continental (American Canadian) cruising there's nothing like big American iron, like a '53 Hemi Coronet or a 73 Ambbuttador wagon, or even a 68 plus 1 Dart.Or an Aerostar, or Pontiac TransSport.
But no way would I take ANY of those from Livingstone to Luapula in the rainy season, or Rally them.
You also have to see a Burkina bush taxi to believe what you can do with a 35 year old Peugot 404 wagon.I was in Burkina Faso in '01. Stuff piled 8 feet high on the roof, with 6 people inside, and driving into a village 3km past the end of the road over roads I crawled over at about 5MPH with the Toyota Prada(Land cruiser 90) or the Mitsubishi 4X4, and was very carefull running with the Elsinore. They made it in and did not leave any parts behind. And they made it back out again. I would not attempt those roads with any American pbuttenger car. Then again, I wouldn't drive that old Peugot from Kitchener to Toronto on the 401 - it would be pulled off the road by the first cop to lay eyes on it.If It could be held on the road at all.
Different ponys for different tracks, as they say. Not to say one is better than the other, but they sure are as different as a Welsh coal pony and a Clydesdale, or Arabian.
