Idle torque
An unhappy childhood in Denmark, meeting strange antipodean folk in England and a never-ending thirst for freedom saw 19-year-old Hans Tholstrup land in Australia with a .45 pistol and precious else.
The Dane would become one of this country’s most prolific adventurers – even after authorities took his mate, that comforting automatic pistol, off the young overlander back in 1964.
Today the 75-year-old Hans, living in southern Queensland, still calls himself a new Australian: ‘I choose this country because it’s the best and I love it.’ And he’s since seen more of the island continent from land, air and sea than most native-born Australians, with a litany of adventures from walking across deserts to establishing the world’s first solar car race.
For those who came in late, Hans Tholstrup’s feats include: • First to fly single-handed around the world and without navigation aids
• First solo four-wheel-drive, east-west crossing of Australia
• Driving the 1977 London to Sydney marathon in a Mini Moke
• First open boat trip around Australia (world’s longest outboard trip). ‘Kept Australian on the left’
• First south-north crossing of Australia, with Mini Moke aboard a rubber raft for Bass Strait
• Founding the Wynns Safari
• Jumping a double-decker bus across 14 motorcycles • First solar car to cross a continent (Perth to Sydney). There was a swag of intrepid exploits from the 1960s on. Three tilts at the Bathurst 1000 (in Datsun 1600s and then a Falcon GTHO), motorcycle marathons across the world and a fair share of romantic exploits for the good-looking daredevil.
Hans doesn’t easily recall dates, the years even, of individual adventures but knows he was never afraid – nervous a couple of times, yes – but never fearful. ‘There’s only one thing that scares me, always has, still does and that’s losing face. Dying does not scare me because I don’t have to live with dying, it’s gone.
And if something puts you in a panic mode do not do it. You will not function to survive if you panic.’
Hans’ childhood was a tough, strict-disciplined experience before his mother ran off with a Spitfire pilot (‘and a Kiwi at that’) and his father shot himself. His uncle adopted him and, to improve his English language skills to study economics and business, the teenager was sent across to Cambridge. ‘There I met these extremely weird creatures. They fished off the bridge when it said no fishing, they walked on the grass when it said don’t walk on the grass …they did everything I believe in; they were Australians. Not only were the guys fantastic, and the attitude fantastic, but the girls were hot.’
His first vehicle here was a Triumph Bonneville. He moved from station work to prospecting and then buffalo hunting in Arnhem Land in a short-wheelbase Landcruiser with a Chevrolet V8.
Hans turned south to explore more of his new home, racing a Cooper S in his spare time, before John Conomos, then boss of Daihatsu Australia, asked him to drive a Charade in an economy run. It changed his life.
‘John knew I raced cars and could drive because I got his little 1000cc Daihatsu four-wheel-drive across Australia, across the Simpson, the full bit, and you can’t do that if you’re a complete moron with cars.’
The novice was converted when he and Evan Green won that 1980 economy run in the Charade with 5.4 litres per 100 kilometres. ‘When you win something you get a bit excited,’ says Hans. So he studied more about how far a litre of fuel could get you, rather than how fast. ‘I think you’re concentrating more on an economy run and you’re more drained at the end of the day than at the end of Bathurst.’
He toned down his rip-roaring days and studied up on