MUGWUMP
The Amazing Austin Vintage Car
MUGWUMP is the name given to an Austin vintage car that travelled through Africa from Bristol in the U.K. to Cape Town in South Africa – and back again. This was quite a remarkable achievement for a vehicle that was already 33 years old at the time. The idea for the expeditions were conceived by four engineering students at the University of Bristol in 1963, and challenged the University of Cape Town engineering department to return the car back to Bristol.
The southbound expedition was named “Vintage Austin Students Trans Africa”, or V.A.S.T.A, and they left the U.K. at the end of June 1963, arriving Cape Town at the end of October.
The northbound expedition was christened “Students Trans Africa Return Vintage Austin”, or S.T.A.R.V.A, with departure from cape town on the 2nd of December 1963 and arrival back in Bristol 29th February 1964.
The journeys were wholly run by students from both Universities, with some funding and support from appeals, but largely accomplished on a shoe-string budget. There was no back-up vehicle, and the teams managed to keep the car running through inhospitable terrain using “on-the-go” engineering, with roadside fixes in deserts, savannah, bush, forest and remote villages.
Mugwump wasn’t just driven, she was……
- Shipped down the Red Sea for 5 days
- Hauled on a rail truck in the Sudan
- Floated on open-deck barges on the White Nile