That Zimbabwe Road Trip

Drive Time

So having read my post about One For The Road, and having watched said show for yourselves, now is the time for y’all to pick the dream sports car of your youth to retrace the steps of Clarkson, May and Hammond as they drove across Zimbabwe.

As I pointed out in the post, these were the cars they chose:

Hammond:  Ford Capri

May:  Triumph Stag

Clarkson:  Lancia Monte Carlo

…and highly interesting choices they were, too.

My choice is this:

1967 Austin Healey 3000 MkIII BJ8, 2.9-liter inline 6:

My only “modifications” would be:

  • to get it in its original right-hand drive configuration, as Zimbabwe (like all ex-Empire countries) drives on the left-hand side of the road
  • to replace the twin carburetors with the Lucas mechanical fuel injection system
  • and to fit a modern aluminum (aluminium?) radiator in place of its original (and inadequate) British leak-bucket.  I’d be driving in Africa, not Britain.

The more I look at the Healey, the more it makes my loins twitch and causes parts of me to move in an outward direction.  I have also had the privilege of having been driven in one many times as a boy, because my mother once owned like the one above, and she took me to and from primary school every day for about a year.  What a beautiful car it was, and what an experience withal.

And in Comments, your choice, with reasons.

24 comments

  1. In keeping to the same era I’d choose a 68 to 70 911S . As for modifications I’d raise the suspension, and add skid plates and rally lights as all the factory Rally cars of the period used. Also, when I lived in Colorado in the 70’s ) we used a fairly simple modification for running a 911 at speed at altitude in the mountains and across the High desert plateau in Utah. A 5 gallon plastic bag filled with water in the front. Then a windshield washer pump and long tube to a spray nozzle in front of the engine fan. It worked ell to rapidly drop the engine temp.

    As for reasons, I’ll just point to the long list of successful Rally 911’s including the 1984 Dakar overall win.

    Two other comments on the episode 66 pence for silver is 86 cents US and current spot price for silver is ~ $ 1.02 a gram so they did get a really good deal on their raw silver purchase ( assuming it was reasonably pure which might be a bit a stretch. ) And in an amazing trick of sand casting at thier campsite James was able to cast a highly polished steering wheel. And Richards engineering OOpsie for the rail car conversion is an error no 1st year engineering student would make. The simple fix is the just add another gear to the gear train to make the rotation correct. But then it all part of the fun if you don’t look to closely at their problems and solutions. We are supposed to ignore the fleet of Land Rovers for the production team after all.

  2. I thought about this all week and a number of cars kept coming to mind.

    In the end it will be a 1972 El Camino, just because I thought they were cool when I was young.

  3. that’s a sharp looking car. and it’s small exterior hides the roomy interior that has plenty of room for empty cups from dunks and burger wrappers

  4. Take a concours car and modify it to non-original and its value drops by half immediately.

    The Healey, unlike almost all British sports cars of that period, was and still is a delight to drive, with an exceptionally crisp four speed gearbox and electric overdrive. Straight off the showroom floor it could do the ton down the straight at Kyalami at 5700 feet altitude.

    1. And just where in Hell do you find a Lucas/Tecalamit F.I. system for a BJ8? IIRC, that was never offered from the factory.

  5. I’ve always been partial to the first generation BMW M3, maybe a bit later than what you’re looking at.
    Looks good, reasonably comfortable, very reliable, and performs well.

    If not that, a Jaguar E Type. Looks good, performs well, and probably not too uncomfortable. Whether it’s reliable though… It’s after all British.

    1. The BMW for the period would be a 2002 TI not an M3, but a the 2002 would be a good choice as well – But I don’t remember any German cars be selected for a Grand Tour Trip. Doesn’t make for good TV if the cars never break.

      1. yes, they were too reliable.

        Late 1980s we ran into a group of M3s near Lake Baikal. They’d driven all the way from Germany without breaking down, were on their way to Beijing.
        They did have a truck with a mobile workshop and spare parts with them just in case, but I think the truck needed more TLC than the cars 🙂

  6. I would take my first car. The 1978 Fiat 124 Spyder. Beautiful Peninfarina body, zippy engine and lots of great memories. It was the single most unreliable car I’ve ever owned. It’s the car that taught me to fix cars. Fix It Again Tony indeed. I used to tell my dates in high school, “my car will break down sometime during our date. Don’t worry, I can fix it.” So, for a tour through Zimbabwe, an onboard mechanic and a boot full of spares would be needed.
    Great car though. Every trip was an adventure.

  7. For Zimbabwe these days if you mandate a British vehicle from the 1960s I think I’d go for something like an Alvis Stalwart.

  8. 911s. If I was prioritising comfort an Aston or a Bentley- acknowledging that is stretching the definition of a sports car.

    @Kim, you know those Healeys as much as I love them have close to the worst ground clearance of any road car made?

    1. I was thinking the same thing. He’d likely finish the trip with a very loud exhaust note and a few pounds lighter.

    2. See, that’s the problem with the modern generations: no sense of adventure.

      Also, those tits at Grand Tour have no idea how to drive on an African dirt road without breaking a car’s undercarriage, but I do. I once drove my mom’s Austin 1100 (which arguably sat even lower than a Healey) to a remote farm out in the boonies — at least 150 miles of dirt road there and back — and only a couple of bumps and scrapes on the undercarriage resulted, no serious damage. Even my dad was impressed.

  9. For any such ” tour” if a Capri is on the list that would be my choice, not because it was an extraordinary car but because I lusted on one owned by a friend.
    I had the pleasure of driving it and would have brought one but the cash was tigth a the time.

    1. Also a good teaching tool for basic maintenance e.g. frequent oil / oil leak checks, fan belt checks, etc. If it’s a first car, it’s a bargain because if (when) she wrecks it, it’s NBD, and every other car she gets thereafter will seem like a dream come true.

      1. That is the ugliest of all MGB’s. Ugly DoT required bumper and raised ride height so aforesaid monstrosity complied with height requirements.
        Loved my TR6 but took lots of work to keep it going.

  11. Not ALL ex Empire countries drive on the left. Canada drives on the right. Justin Turdeau would like to drive us to the left, but that won ‘t happen.

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