Posted by Gordon on Friday, June 18, 2004 at 4:52PM :
Lang Kidby just posted this about his trip from Australia to the D-Day memorial events in the Dodge staff car. Cross-posting from Maple Leaf Up and the WW2 Dodge Forum.
------------------------------------------Just got back from Europe. The Dodge Staff car went really well. Covered nearly 6,000km and had one flat tyre!
Had a few problems getting it off the dock in Aqaba Jordan but several hours and several? dollars later we were on our way.
Right from the start a 1940 Dodge painted in army colours drew attention. The reception could not have been better. Did all the tourist stuff in Jordan (Lawrence of Arabia's camp at Wadi Rum, Dead Sea and a night at the fabulous lost city of Petra)
Crossing the border into Syria was a non-event. Everybody was more interested in the car than the paperwork. We were in the fabulous souq (bazaar) in Damascus when someone threw a bomb near the Australian Embassy but did not find out about it for three days. The main impression was dozens of people stopping you in the street or hanging out of car windows on the highway calling "Welcome to Syria" Saw more guns and police in USA than in Syria.
Turkey was a fantastic visit. The huge mountains presented no trouble to the Dodge and she just plugged on. Became the centrepiece for an ANZAC celebration in Goreme where people have built their houses in the sandstone hills.
Had a great day at ANZAC cove climbing the hills completely alone. Extremely glad we did not make the 25th ceremony. Numerous reports from disgusted Australians and Turks that it has been taken over by drunken Aussie and Kiwi yobbos. Beer cans all over the graves, people using the headstones for seats at Lone Pine and heavy rock music. If you are going to visit Galipolli do it at any time other than 25th of April.
Istanbul lived up to its promise with a fantastic bazaar and scuttling ferries. Once again the Dodge created huge interest and the hotel owner gave us a mighty discount if we would park out the front to attract he crowds. Had our flat tyre here and an hour's work trying to repair the puncture and finally a new tube cost $3.
On through Greece to southern Italy. In Rome Nicola Bulgari (of watch, perfume and jewelry fame) saw the car in the street and took us under his wing. We were taken to his fabulous collection of 30's and 40's cars, put up in a 5 star hotel, given a 3 hour tour of Rome in a limo then shouted dinner at a fabulous restaurant. Next day the driver took us to a huge museum near Naples and Salerno with a mighty collection of military vehicles. On arrival back at Nicola's garage where the car had been left for the night we found it cleaned and serviced then followed a mechanic through all the short cut back streets until we reached the highway going north. Wouldn't have happened if we were driving a Landcruiser.
A couple of days later driving along the the shores of Lake Maggiore in beautiful northern Italy we passed a fantastic huge Victorian hotel. On the sweeping lawns were parked a large number of vintage cars. We pulled up to have a look at the Norhern Italy/Rotary Club annual rally. Within minutes we were ordered into the grounds and given pride of place in the display. The crowds left the other cars to swarm around the Dodge. They thought it was funny that our information sheet (written in Italian) mentioned certain Italian/Australian activities in Lybia in 1941.
We were hustled inside for the huge sit down lunch with flowing food and wine. The speeches were in Italian as the prize-giving started and suddenly there was a tremendous surge of applause and they were shouting at Bev and me to go up and get the beautiful trophy for "Longest Distance Travelled"!
Anyhow on to Switzerland (and a snowman on the bonnet) and France, UK and back to France for Normandy. I am sure it was the most photographed vehicle there. Went to a celebration for the Typhoon pilots in a little town and met up with John Howard the Australian Prime Minister. He got excited about the Dodge as his father had a Plymouth of the same model. Bev was filming him in the car when his wife said at the top of her voice "Would you buy a used car from this man?"
In conclusion, the Dodge has gone to a good home in England and will be promoting Australian history in Europe for years to come.
Lang
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