BUCKET LIST REVISITED

Iremember writing a bucket list some years ago that ended up filed away in the bowels of my hard drive. I was inspired to revisit it a few years back after reading about my good friend Garry Boyce’s wonderful adventure through South America as he tackled the Rally of the Incas with fellow Kiwi Ken Williams in the co-driver’s seat. The tortuous 28-day, 10,000km journey was one of Garry’s bucket-list challenges, and definitely one that he’ll remember forever.

I wasn’t surprised to see that I hadn’t done too well in ticking off items on my wish list when I found it again recently — even though there was nothing terribly difficult to arrange, such as bungee jumping off the Burj Khalifa in Dubai or climbing the south route to summit Mount Everest. The thought of an Aston Martin DB4GT parked in the garage does still send shivers through my spine, though. On the contrary, I’d taken a more conservative — or, I like to think, realistic — approach. What I found more disconcerting was the fact that the list was quite achievable, some of it relating to classic car events such as Goodwood, Pebble Beach, and maybe attending the Indianapolis 500.

I imagine that, for many of us, especially the more adventurous dreamers, Garry’s real-life adventures would take top billing on their bucket

lists, especially when they involve classic cars. That brought me to another point: what should be at the top of my list? Perhaps a ’67 Shelby GT350 or a Porsche 930 would be nice.

It was another of Garry’s adventures that sparked my enthusiasm to revisit my bucket list yet again. Garry, together with teammate Ken Williams, tackled and completed the Peking to Paris rally last month. Driving his trusty Mercedes-benz 220 SEC coupé nearly halfway around the world with a bunch of like-minded enthusiasts, against the clock, on one of the greatest motoring adventures ever for vintage and classic cars is really living the dream. Travelling through countries such as China, Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Germany, Belgium, and France, the epic 36-day adventure covered more than 13,500km, and I can only imagine what the thrill of completing such an endurance event must be like.

In this issue, we start off with the first part of Garry and Ken’s amazing adventure as they buckle in for the ride of their lives.

As for the ’67 Shelby GT350 and Porsche 930, I might start checking out the prices.

Ashley Webb Editor