England to South Africa in a Porsche 944: 24,000 kms Road Trip

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POSTED ON 2012-09-08

Driving a car across the African continent is no easy task, especially if the car is a 23 year old Porsche 944, which already has 200,000 miles on its clock. Ben Coombs and Laura Redding undertook this journey. On their journey, which lasted a good two months and 15,000 miles (24,140 kms), the Porsche 944 suffered a series of 27 breakdowns.

The journey from England to South Africa via Middle East comes from Coombs lifelong passion for adventure and cars. His Porsche 944 had seen better days during its five years and yet rather than dumping the vehicle Coombs decided to undertake this journey and see how it fared rather than just junking or selling his Porsche.

The history of Porsche 944 goes back a long way to when it was first seen at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 1981. This 944 replaced its predecessor Porsche 92 and was an entry level sports car which was later replaced by the Porsche 968. 944 underwent major changes to engine along the way. It has a 2.5 liter engine with 4 cylinders and can produce 174hp. The average performance is remarkable as it can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds and reach a maximum speed of 227 kmph.

Ben has already decided on his next trip, V8Nam. As the name suggests it will be a V8 powered car which will be driven from England to Vietnam. Ben plans to undertake this journey next year from April. You can read more on adventure of Ben and Laura at their official website.