Straight out of Benoni and off to, nicely, in every single place. Two years in the past, companions, Linda and Craig, took a leap of religion once they offered all their belongings and transformed a 1968 Mk1 Ford Transit right into a cellular house. They’ve been on the highway ever since, with no intention of stopping anytime quickly.
Earlier than indulging within the travels, one thing must be mentioned about Martha, the 53-year-old camper van.
The Iconic Transit
The Transit is an iconic car in British historical past, a byword for another van. It was additionally mentioned to be the getaway journey of alternative for financial institution robbers, because of its V6 engine. Scotland Yard as soon as mentioned that the Transit was concerned in 95% of all financial institution robberies!
Launched in 1965, the Transit was produced in Berkshire in an outdated ammunitions manufacturing unit. The automobile turned the template for all vans that adopted, utilised for quite a lot of functions from something to ice-cream vans, to even transporting an elephant.
The Mk1 value simply over £542 kilos when it was launched (£10 000, or R202 845 in at the moment’s cash). Its manufacturing lasted ten years, making the primary version extraordinarily uncommon. In 1967, Sprite Caravans entered the motor house market utilizing the brand new Ford Transit.
Along side Ford, the brand new coach-built unit was a luxurious motor house, geared up with a bathe and bathroom, with the choice of a fridge or oven. On the time of its launch, it value £3800, making it the costliest motor house on the planet on the time.
Solely three of those Sprite Ford Transit camper vans have been ever imported to South Africa, and Martha appears to be the one recognized one remaining within the nation out of the six left on the planet.
Assembly Martha
By the way, Craig and Linda didn’t know of Martha’s pedigree once they travelled to Klerksdorp to buy the van. They rebuilt the inside, offered their home and all their belongings and hit the highway– simply earlier than Covid hit.
‘After promoting every part, we truly needed to pitch a tent to retailer some issues and make house within the van to sleep, we nonetheless had a lot crap to do away with,’ Craig instructed Getaway Journal. Immediately, after downsizing their life to a few pairs of pants and shirts every, and a few fundamental kitchen utensils, they’ve all they want.
The van-life group
What should’ve been a frightening journey at first, Craig says they’ve met the kindest and most charitable individuals from all walks of life. It’s factor too, as a result of issues didn’t all the time go easily.
They created a Fb group referred to as ‘Ford-in Transit,’ the place they commonly put up updates of their travels, and found a group that will show invaluable in a time of want. When Linda and Craig discovered themselves staying close to the Drakensberg one evening, the rain began bucketing down.
The outdated van began to leak, and so they had to make use of each pot, cup and bowl to try to catch the water leaking into their house. Considered one of their followers, John Knighton, couriered a sheet for them to place over their van when it rained.
He wasn’t the one one. Many others have been additionally impressed by their story, and an organization referred to as Trevor’s Tyres gave them a brand new set of tires. Jonnesway Instruments gifted a toolkit to maintain up with all the upkeep on the van.
Even Ford was intrigued, giving the automobile service at their Straundale meeting half, and lengthening entry to all its service centres throughout South Africa.
Getting someplace – slowly
Craig and Linda have travelled all through South Africa throughout a time when most of us stayed ‘locked-down.’ They even had a loophole for transporting alcohol, the place their six-pack within the fridge was technically saved on their very own property.
All through their journey, they’ve stayed in some reasonably precarious locations, reminiscent of on line casino parking tons, in addition to within the driveways of type individuals met alongside the best way. However most significantly, they encountered marvellous individuals and a group of like-minded people, one thing they are saying they wouldn’t commerce for the world.
Observe Linda and Craig on their journey right here.
Photos: Linda and Craig Evans
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Now that is the (van) life – nomads who reside on the highway