Meet the man on a 23-year road trip in a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon

[Scott at Pelican Parts]

Filed under: Classics, SUV, Etc., Mercedes-Benz



Wanderlust: It alternately makes life worth living, yet discourages living life in a conventional fashion. Or on a more practical level, not a day goes by that those of us given to rambling do not battle conflicted desires to slip behind the wheel and slip out of town.

To we lovers of the open road, Gunther Holtorf must represent the Platonic ideal: A man on a never-ending road-trip, one that has now lasted 23 years. Even more amazing than Holtorf's decades spent traveling the world in his Mercedes-Benz Geländewagen, however, is that he has done it entirely under the radar, with nary a press clipping until the BBC posted this video.

Holtorf set out on what was to be a tour of Africa with his wife in 1989, and somewhere along the way the couple decided to just keep going. He's put over 500,000 miles on his G-Wagen since, and, thankfully, the 74-year-old man has documented his trip rather extensively with two Leica film cameras.

Scroll down to watch a narrated slideshow of Gunther's life on the road.Continue reading Meet the man on a 23-year road trip in a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon

Meet the man on a 23-year road trip in a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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Autoblog
07-24-2012 03:58 PM

[suginami]

Man that's a cool story.

Very sad that his wife died, and touching that her wish was that he continue the journey.

I also like that they have avoided eating in restaurants and staying in hotels. They buy ingredients locally, and cook outdoors, where they also sleep.

The video doesn't mention which G wagon he is driving, but it has to be diesel model, doesn't it?

Also cool that other than flat tires, over 500,000 miles, he claims the car has never "broken down", or rather, whatever issues have come it, he has been able to fix them by the side of the road and keep on moving.

[suginami]

Found this in an article online:

"In June this year, the Philippines became the 200th country visited, and the G-Wagen showed 799,783 kilometers on the clock.

At 74-years old, Gunther Holtorf is an inspiration, but for all his and Christine’s determination, they couldn’t have done it without Otto — the name given to their trusty G-Wagen.

Powered by a 3.0 liter diesel engine, which produced around 85 horsepower when new, the 300GD was never fast, but it is very, very strong. Quite apart from reaching 500,000 miles, Gunther’s G-Class is continuously overweight, as he carries 500 kilograms (1100 pounds) of equipment on the roof, plus the car is his home — meaning it contains everything he needs to survive, from sleeping quarters to a shower."

[Antony]

Loved the story; thank you for posting the link(s).