Autoshite does the Mongol Rally

[cort1977]

My mate did something similar a few years ago and he felt that being in a group could hinder border crossings because if you weren't careful a poor negotiator at the front could mishandle the 'fees', set a precedent for that day and end up costing all those following a fortune.

 

This is cool but not really seeing anything you couldn't do yourself depending how confident you are.

 

What would an AS rally involve?  A limit of 500 at cannock auctions and head for John O'Groats via Longbridge?

[dollywobbler]

Was it CAR/SupercarClassics who crashed the Mille Miglia one year? They cited outrageous entry fees, since most entrants were loaded.

 

That was an interesting read, there's nothing like a group to give a bit of Dutch courage. I wonder whether border crossings really would be more difficult if travelling alone.

Main difference with Mille Miglia is that there's a lot of organisation. To the extent that competitors AND support vehicles are apparently allowed to ignore pretty much every rule of the road. It's apparently quite exciting to be a part of.

[willswitchengage]

Is there a specific reason why most entrants appear to choose relatively small cars?

The general purpose of the event is a demonstration that you can drive across the world in a cheap second hand hatchback that's on its last legs, as opposed to a Land Cruiser emblazoned with 'one life, live it' (yes I know that's a LR thing).

 

This year the rules were engine size less than 1.2 and 'cheap', but you are at full liberty to flour these. Most of the student-type entrants and non-car people adhere to the 'rules' but a good properties, such as myself, did it at a car of our choice providing it still satisfied the spirit of the event, hence why there were a lot of classic cars, double decker buses etc. Your flouting if the rules is 'justified'. Many entrants did irritate me though as they adhered to the sub 1.2 element, but realised that 'cheap' could never really be quantified so just turned up in near-new cars which obviously are comfortable (wind noise was a big killer in our ancient car) and unlikely to break down. It was vaguely self-policing though as at the launch event 'shame' stickers were handed out so that we could all highlight who had stretched the rules.

 

In previous years the rules have been tighter for genuine reasons - the Mongolian import duties are enormous and there was a period when the cars must strictly be less than ten years old to avoid them, which obviously made that a fairly crap year for vehicle choice. One thing the organisers have done is negotiate these all away with the Mongolian customs authorities so that teams no longer have to pay an intimidating $5000 deposit on entry. The emphasis is now placed on that all cars must be removed from the country and we were bombarded with daily reminders of this and an amusing gallery of vehicles crossing the border back into Russia on the back of lorries.

 

Incidentally the only vehicle we saw ubiquitously in every country we traveled through was... the Isuzu Elf.

[willswitchengage]

I can't remember if I wrote about this before but the most popular rally vehicles (by some margin) were the Nissan Micra, Suzuki Wagon R+ and Skoda Fabia.

[SiC]

Excellent write up on what looked like a mighty fine adventure.

 

If you pardon my rudeness, what sort of money does/did it cost to do something like this?

[chaseracer]

I've just found this, read half of it and got proper cramp.

That'll teach me to Autoshite on the toilet.

 

I'll finish later but so far it's incredible!

 

Some clarification required...

[Pillock]

If you skim read it, with tales of smoll Japanese cars and poo, it reads like a Jim Bell collection thread.

[willswitchengage]

Excellent write up on what looked like a mighty fine adventure.

If you pardon my rudeness, what sort of money does/did it cost to do something like this?

I haven't really thought about it but I'd do a rough estimate as...

 

Visas: £600

Ferry + Turkmenistan: £400

Fuel, food, accomodation on the trip: £1000

Buying and prepping the car: £1000, but could be anything really

Flying home: £500

Shipping the car home: £1200 (a point of friction as some teams got private quotes and it was a lot cheaper - this was the service provided by the organisers which didn't help the debate of whether or not the event is a 'rip off'

 

We also paid a lot for insurance because we did it in Lawrence's name, but the car was in a weirdly high category and he had a few crashes he needed to declare (zero NCB!)

 

Obviously some of that is split between us and, without giving specifics, we were lucky to find 'generous' sponsors.

 

A killer for us is that we have jobs so had to take unpaid leave, which again without being specific was quite expensive.

 

To make it cheaper you can optimise your route to reduced your visa costs (but only slightly), camp every night (we met a team who did this to save money), drive home instead of shipping your car (we didn't have the time and the car was in a bad way) and obviously minimise the initial spend on your car - but with obvious associated risks.

 

So a fuzzy answer but we never really Torres it up, and the cost was spread over six months as a lot of the expenditure is committed a long way in advance.

[willswitchengage]

An interesting team has just finished

 

 

 

I can't seem to figure out how to copy the link (I need to employ a 15 year old assistant) but search on Facebook for 'Team live free or tri'. They were delayed for a week in Europe when their engine spannered itself - not a good start.

[chaseracer]

https://www.facebook.com/livefreeortri/

[Isaac Hunt]

Excellent, well done guys. How long did the trip,take from start to finish, excuse if it is in the thread detail.

 

I'd be terrible as beyond the customary cable ties, gaffer tape and wd40 I would want to take that many spares and tools the bloody thing would be undriveable

[dollywobbler]

An interesting team has just finished

 

 

1536405516549.jpg

 

I can't seem to figure out how to copy the link (I need to employ a 15 year old assistant) but search on Facebook for 'Team live free or tri'. They were delayed for a week in Europe when their engine spannered itself - not a good start.

 

Amazing!

[Fumbler]

Do it in a Reliant Kitten next time if cooking in a plastic box isn't too bad.

[willswitchengage]

Excellent, well done guys. How long did the trip,take from start to finish, excuse if it is in the thread detail.

I'd be terrible as beyond the customary cable ties, gaffer tape and wd40 I would want to take that many spares and tools the bloody thing would be undriveable

Took us six weeks door to door, could possibly have saved almost a week if Lawrence hadn't gone to Iran - that'd still let us take a 'leisurely' pace. We only really lost one day due to breakdowns.

 

About half of what the Rickman and Triumph brought with them was spare parts - we endlessly debated what to bring. I suggested a donor car...

[SiC]

That's an awfully long time - far longer than I thought it would take. Is that about right or are some a lot quicker, others a lot slower? What made it take the time it did, the rough roads or just the shear length of the route?

 

I keep having naughty thoughts that an Austin 1100 would make the perfect vehicle for such a journey.

[willswitchengage]

That's an awfully long time - far longer than I thought it would take. Is that about right or are some a lot quicker, others a lot slower? What made it take the time it did, the rough roads or just the shear length of the route?

I keep having naughty thoughts that an Austin 1100 would make the perfect vehicle for such a journey.

We did it at a pace that meant we typically drove for about eight hours a day giving us plenty of time to rest and find food - both of which were often quite tricky. In some countries a day's driving might be only 100 miles, so that's why it took a long time. We also had to spend a couple of mornings in garages, but repairs are generally done very quickly. A border crossing can take between one and seven hours, so that gets factored in as well.

 

The Caspian Sea ferry is very unpredictable - some teams had to wait a week for a sailing, fortunately I only had to wait a day.

 

Some teams tried to smash the rally and finished within maybe three-four weeks by simply driving through Russia - seems to defeat the object really to just do a motorway sightseeing holiday, but a lot did. Many also made the error of booking flights home in advance, which meant they were in a colossal rush to get everywhere, including often skipping out Mongolia completely. Some others drove 24 hours a day working shift patterns - but driving at night is extremely hazardous and was an easy way of ending your trip early (hitting livestock was common).

 

We booked eight weeks off work to give us plenty of float. I could have been back after six but we ultimately did seven just to allow us to relax at the end. Those who seemed to have the least enjoyable time were those who tried to do it as quickly as possible. At six weeks we probably arrived about half way through the pack, excluding all the DNFs. A surprising amount of DNSs too - the organisers told me that at the starting line maybe 10% of teams choose not to start at the last minute. Mad.

[stripped fred]

I just want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading your article. Very well written, enjoyable and informative. I enjoyed the photos too. Thanks for taking the time.

 

The rally sounds like hard work but one of those experiences that you will never forget. I think the constant crashing into potholes would have naffed me off after the first 100 miles.

 

I like the charade, nice shape, and I'm a fan of Japanese reliability. I would have scrapped it at the end though rather than have it hang around. It did its job and sounded quite broken by the end! You will still have the photos of the trip.

[busmansholiday]

That was an excellent read and your effort has to be commended.

 

Do you think that AS could between us all pay for DW and Cats to do it in an Invacar next time ?

[dollywobbler]

That was an excellent read and your effort has to be commended.

 

Do you think that AS could between us all pay for DW and Cats to do it in an Invacar next time ?

 

As much as I like Rich, I'm not prepared to share a single-seater car with him.

[willswitchengage]

I just want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading your article. Very well written, enjoyable and informative. I enjoyed the photos too. Thanks for taking the time.

 

The rally sounds like hard work but one of those experiences that you will never forget. I think the constant crashing into potholes would have naffed me off after the first 100 miles.

 

I like the charade, nice shape, and I'm a fan of Japanese reliability. I would have scrapped it at the end though rather than have it hang around. It did its job and sounded quite broken by the end! You will still have the photos of the trip.

 

I initially wrote it as a daily diary as Facebook is now too lame to post anything as a memory, then I realised I should skew it for the AS listener as I know you guys all love this kind of stuff.

 

The original plan was that it was to be Lawrence's car as he doesn't have one of his own (he used it for the months running up to setting off) but soon before we departed he found his job was moving abroad so he had no need for it when we got home. It'd only be driven home to be scrapped.

 

For everybody's amusement this came up on WhatsApp the other day - how a car gets 'towed' in Mongolia:

 

 

People resorted to quite drastic measures to make sure their vehicles escaped import duties.

 

 

As much as I like Rich, I'm not prepared to share a single-seater car with him.

 

You two mainly need to worry about Tajikistan's beard ban.

[willswitchengage]

Applying the Pistonheads logic our car has now doubled in value as it has appeared in a magazine (Autobild of Switzerland)