Around the World in 90 days
27th May 1994 – Three Morgan 4/4 tourers (4-seater) set off from the south of France on a journey around the world.
Photographer: Matt Jennings & Gérard Rossignol
The world tour was an idea borne out of a conversation among friends in the French Morgan owner’s club — Les Mousquetaires. Tired of simple drives to the familiar local sites, the challenge was set to be more adventurous and live up to Les Mousquetaire’s legend.
After an excited conversation at an inn in the south of France, a plan was hatched; to drive around the world. Three cars were purchased, and with some help from the MSCC’s John Donovan and from the Morgan factory in Malvern, were prepared for the trip.
This involved the fitment of Plus 8 fuel tanks for extra range, adding some under-chassis armour to stop stone damage, a tow-hitch for trailers, raising the ride-height to help cross rough terrain, and the fitment of more rugged Michelin ‘X’ tyres with deeper sidewalls. Secret compartments were added to the cars to allow various useful and necassary items to be carried for security in some of the more remote areas.
Each car had its mohair hood and frame removed entirely; the trip was to be completed with no roof at all, regardless of the weather.
Elliot, Jean-Louis’ car, still has no roof, some 31 years later.
In the south of France, near the small French town of Lupiac, is Chateau Castelmore, the birthplace of the French Musketeer “Charles de Batz de Castelmore”, also known as d’Artagnan. D’Artagnan served as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard for King Louis XIV. Alexandre Dumas would later base his famous Musketeer stories on d’Artagnan’s adventures.
This was a fitting place for the Musketeers to begin their journey.
“You cannot discover new oceans, unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”
– Phileas Fog
First up was a relatively brief drive north to Paris, where there was a gathering of the Morgan Club de France, and a small number of Brits, who had come to escort them to the Belgian border. Ahead, in the centre of Brussels, was a gathering of around 60 Morgan cars in the Grand-Place. The beautiful 11th century square in the centre of Brussels is normally a no-parking area, and this remains the only time that such a number of cars were permitted to park, such is the charm of a Morgan.
Brussels led to Hamburg, Copenhagen and Stockholm, where an overnight ferry was taken to Finland to make the heavily guarded border crossing into Russia. The huge queue at customs was bypassed with the discrete offering of a very nice single malt wrapped in newspaper. There are no pictures of this official process.
“This round-the-world journey, to be realised without professional aid or mobile ‘back-up’, is to travel across Russia, Mongolia, China, Japan and the United States of America.
By this demonstration with our Morgan cars we hope to show that European technology ages well and also that simple technology of traditional solidity can compare well with modern sophistication.”
– Les Mousquetaires
One of the reasons for the trailers was to enable the team to deliver some urgently needed medical aid and supplies to hospitals in St Petersburg. Being biologists this was a particularly important part of the mission, so they delivered test materials for AIDS and for hepatitis, as well as some medicine for new born babies.
Lectures were given by the team around the prevention and screening for AIDS and viral hepititus at hospitals in St. Petersbourg, Moscow, Omsk and Novossibirsk.
Travelling to a predefined plan was proving difficult, with the miles travelled per day varying anywhere between 100 and 600, so the schedule required driving between 10 -12 hours per day.
Often it was easier to not drive on the roads, as the road surfaces were particularly poor in some areas.
Hotels are not common in rural Russia and Mongolia, so the accommodation was a simple camp near the road, but there were numerous villages and families en route that welcomed the travellers, keen to spend time with the Europeans in their strange cars. Many Russian police at checkpoints simply laughed at the cars having no roofs.
“Is this car coming from heaven or paradise?”
– Mongolian child to Jean-Louis
Once in Beijing, Jean-Jacques and Jean-Pierre had to return to France due to work commitments, so Diou Biban was shipped home, leaving Elliot and Kalliste to continue the journey to Japan. From Beijing the two remaining cars headed north into Manchuria towards Vladivostok. Roads there were in better condition, though the weather was wetter than was found in the deserts they’d been through.
The route in to Vladivostok proved a challenge, with some roads being little more than mud-filled ruts up to a metre deep. Some difficulties were found, but eventually the cars passed through customs and were loaded on to boats by crane and shipped to Niigata, Japan.
After several days with the MSCC Japan, the cars were loaded on to the freight-only ‘Alva Maersk’ ship headed for Seattle, while d’Artagnan and Athos flew, taking in Hawaii for some surfing and r&r.
On July 28th, the crew were reunited with the cars and after some minor servicing drove north from Seattle across the border to Vancouver, and meandered across Canada and the USA to New York.
There were no mechanical issues that couldn’t be fixed on the side of the road, with basic maintenance carried out by the team. Elliot needed some gearbox mountings replacing in Japan, and Kalliste initially had high oil consumption, but this stopped as the engine was run in over the first few thousand miles.
“We left the factory: after 5 miles, we broke down! I had forgotten that the petrol level indication should not be on E! The only fuel shortage of the whole trip!”
– Jean-Louis Clavère
Jean-Louis has the relaxed manner of a man who is at ease with the unknown. His garage hints at other adventures besides the world tour.
There are various nods to a motor racing past. Tools to carry out any repair, and an inspection pit and car lift to boot.
A Honda Dominator with relevant ‘patina’ from a south American tour from Patagonia to Cartegena. A 125cc Rumi Formichino. A surfboard or two. A bright green Citroen Mehari. A Jaguar E-type undergoing a full restoration. And the bicycle bought in China and carried half-way around the world on the back of the Morgan. Elliot is the third Morgan he has owned; the first is a Plus 4 with a TR4 engine which he bought in 1974, and a Plus 8 bought in 1980.
“In the States you take your credit card, and you can find a hotel within 1000km or more… In Russia you talk to Dimitri who talks to Ygor, who talks to Yuri.. It works, but it takes a lot of steps.”
– Jean-Louis Clavère
“Life is not a dress rehearsal. Go, try, win, lose – it doesn’t matter, but try. It’s the most important thing in my mind”
In 2004 a similar journey was made famous by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman on BMW R1150GS motorcycles in the series “Long Way Round”, ten years after the Musketeers did something similar. It’s fair to say the Musketeers had less of a support team in place, they did however have the foresight to take a documentary filmmaker with them, Gérard Rossignol.
Rossignol is based in Marseille and has spent a lifetime travelling the world filming and photographic different cultures.
The documentary of the world tour “Beyond the Red Gate” was broadcast on French television in 1995.
“The World tour had a big influence on my career, because it was my first great documentary, and I appreciate every country, it was a dream.”
– Gérard Rossignol
Starting in France, travelling east for 38,000 km, the adventure was to end where it began. It was proved that, in fact, the World is indeed round: by starting each day driving towards the sunrise and ending each day with the sun setting behind you, eventually you do end up back where you began.
Un pour tous, tous pour un.
Jean-Louis Clavere
Jean-Pierre Rivals
Jean Ribot
Jean-Jacques Lascombe
