First Overland

[Landy Smurf]

50 years ago six students from Oxford and Cambridge set out in two Land-Rovers to drive from London to Singapore. Apart from the English Channel and the Bosporus (and the necessary river crossings, large and small), they drove overland all the way — the first time it had been achieved

i got this for my dad for xmas. has anyone else seen this or read the book?
if so what did you think of it?

[iPom]

Never heard of it until now, sounds like a cracking story.....

Try [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_and_Cambridge_Far_Eastern_Expedition"]Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:1955OverlandKit.jpeg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/65/1955OverlandKit.jpeg/220px-1955OverlandKit.jpeg"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/6/65/1955OverlandKit.jpeg/220px-1955OverlandKit.jpeg[/ame]......

[kaa45]

Great book...is it out on DVD?
Been a few threads about this and other ground breaking journeys.
Try "Wheels Across A Wilderness" by the Leyland Brothers
Cheers
Danny

[JDNSW]

Read it when first published, still have it, but I don't think I have read it for fifty years. Quite interesting, but about the only detail I can remember was a rear wheel bearing failure before they even left Europe - on a new vehicle!

Interestingly, despite the roads being far better today, I think that any rerun today would be impossible along their exact route for political/military reasons.

John

[Landy Smurf]

i already have that one its great.yes i got the first overland sent from england they for $33 i think that includes postage it is in colour and goes for a while
here is the link
'First Overland' Home Page

[Landy Smurf]

Read it when first published, still have it, but I don't think I have read it for fifty years. Quite interesting, but about the only detail I can remember was a rear wheel bearing failure before they even left Europe - on a new vehicle!

Interestingly, despite the roads being far better today, I think that any rerun today would be impossible along their exact route for political/military reasons.

John

exactly right john they were going to do a rerun for the 50th but could not

[austastar]

Hi,
I read it as a school kid, it was a major inspiration to own a Landrover ever since.
I recently bought the DVD, it is a review/discussion interview with some of the original team and was well worth the purchase.
cheers

[keith73]

Ive bought the book the though ebay the other day should be here soon but havnt found a video of it yet if there is one.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

The DVD is a bit interesting. The "expedition" was originally sponsored by the BBC and video footage was sent back to London periodically.

The DVD was produced by a Land Rover enthusiast who was also an ex-BBC producer, who acquired the video footage from the BBC archive.

What has been done is that members of the original team were sat in front of a screen while the video footage was displayed and the are then sound recorded reciting their experiences during the journey. This sound is then overlayed on the original footage with a number of personal interviews included.

The DVD is available from 'First Overland' Home Page I'm happy to loan my copy of the DVD to people in Sydney.