Thought some of you might find the following interesting. To me, this is what real 'overlanding' is all about.
Back in the 1950s the husband and wife team of Alfred and Jakobine (Cordes) Hobbs packed up an old, 1935 Austin, London taxi cab and spent four years traveling the world. Unfortunately there is scant info available online other than a private website. other than that, the best source for photos can be found at the following link; it contains pics of a few newspaper articles as well.
1935 London Taxi
There is also a documentary that came out in 2014 called 'Alfred & Jakobine'.
Alfred & Jakobine - Cleveland International Film Festival :: March 22 - April 1, 2023
I find it rather odd, and somewhat sad, that the best sources for information about this epic journey is private.
Retired 1935 Austin London taxi cabs must have been rather popular back in the 1950s, especially for overlanding. While researching Alfred and Jakobine I ran across another couple, Michael and Nita Marriott who chronicled their adventures in the book 'Desert Taxi'. Below is a good synopsis of the book as written by a reviewer named Dan.
"In 1953, Michael Marriott and his wife Nita pack up their life to head for Nigeria. They intend to drive there - in their retired 1935 Austin London taxi cab, with three quarters of a million miles on the clock. A journey of some 2319 miles (3732 kilometres), crossing one of the least hospitable environments (the Sahara) in a vehicle (nicknamed Bertha) that most people would simply deem ridiculous for such purpose, shows an almost foolish level of self belief."
And to make things even a bit more odd... most of the links dealing with the 'Desert Taxi' book lead straight to that private website about Alfred and Jakobine!
I did find the following in re the Marriotts, seems like they lived a rather adventurous overlanding lifestyle!!
overland-live.blogspot.com
As I've mentioned on a few other threads... they did all of this without the benefits of the various toys so many today insist they must have.
Back in the 1950s the husband and wife team of Alfred and Jakobine (Cordes) Hobbs packed up an old, 1935 Austin, London taxi cab and spent four years traveling the world. Unfortunately there is scant info available online other than a private website. other than that, the best source for photos can be found at the following link; it contains pics of a few newspaper articles as well.
1935 London Taxi
There is also a documentary that came out in 2014 called 'Alfred & Jakobine'.
Alfred & Jakobine - Cleveland International Film Festival :: March 22 - April 1, 2023
I find it rather odd, and somewhat sad, that the best sources for information about this epic journey is private.
Retired 1935 Austin London taxi cabs must have been rather popular back in the 1950s, especially for overlanding. While researching Alfred and Jakobine I ran across another couple, Michael and Nita Marriott who chronicled their adventures in the book 'Desert Taxi'. Below is a good synopsis of the book as written by a reviewer named Dan.
"In 1953, Michael Marriott and his wife Nita pack up their life to head for Nigeria. They intend to drive there - in their retired 1935 Austin London taxi cab, with three quarters of a million miles on the clock. A journey of some 2319 miles (3732 kilometres), crossing one of the least hospitable environments (the Sahara) in a vehicle (nicknamed Bertha) that most people would simply deem ridiculous for such purpose, shows an almost foolish level of self belief."
And to make things even a bit more odd... most of the links dealing with the 'Desert Taxi' book lead straight to that private website about Alfred and Jakobine!
I did find the following in re the Marriotts, seems like they lived a rather adventurous overlanding lifestyle!!
1956 Overland Travel
A blog about overland expedition and adventure travel.
overland-live.blogspot.com
As I've mentioned on a few other threads... they did all of this without the benefits of the various toys so many today insist they must have.
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