1984 Africa-Arctic Challenge 12K miles/28 days in a ’84 diesel Suburban

[Larry]

Last week there was an interesting link on Jalopnik to a story in Road & Track of Canadian adventure driver Garry Sowerby where he took a 1984 6.2L diesel GMC Suburban on a 12,531 mile Africa-Arctic Challenge, fastest ever voyage from the south tip of Africa to the north of Europe. He completed 12,531 miles in 28 days, 13 hours, 10 minutes. Not bad for a superfast 6.2L diesel.

Garry’s accolades probably have been discussed here many times but I found this interesting as I was just recently looking for an old advertisement in box full of old 4x4 magazines from when I was a kid that had pictures of Garry’s exact Suburban. The timely R & T article helped zero down which year of magazines I should be digging through to find the pictures of this burb as I could not remember Garry's name to do any web searching for pictures. When the link hit Japolnik it was like an “ah, ha!” moment.

What I liked most about this burb was the neat roof top carrier/platform thing and I always wondered what became of that burb. I would love to have a roof top thing like that for the ole Polar Bear. Heck, I would love to meet Garry someday and hear about his races/adventures. I remember reading about many of his adventures in the mags back when I was a kid. Garry Sowerby and Gary Westcott were both my heroes back then…hell, still are.

Anyway, it took me a while of rummaging through dusty boxes of 4x4 mags from my childhood but I found the ad I was looking for….. Neat, eh!? Found one of the ads in the July 1984 issue of FOUR WHEELER. I was only 12 years old at that time and my older brother got tired of stealing his truck mags so he got me my own subscriptions :elkgrin:

I also found some other pictures of Garry’s Suburban around the web. The Burb now lives at the Maritime Motorsports Hall of Fame in Petitcodiac, New Brunswick as of 2012 according to Maritime Motorsports Hall of Fame website.

Now I want to go find his book, "Road Fever"! Sounds like Suburban took on gun fire along the way through Africa :Wow1:

....And if I could find a top like that it would be fun to paint my Polar Bear burb like his :coffeedrink:

 

[NorthernWoodsman]

i knew there was a reason why i always loved these old burbs....tough. and good looking.

for the top, what about a Vanagon Westfalia top modified? they look quite similar and if you're handy with the fiberglass i don't think would be too difficult to pull off.

 

[Larry]

Nobody like Africa-Arctic Challenge Suburban

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

I'm not familiar with copyright law but it would be great to be able to read the entire article. You have an amazing collection of vintage mags. What else would we be interested in seeing from your "vault"? :sombrero:

Oops...just spotted the link. Will check it out.

 

[modernbeat]

Larry, I've got an old copy of Road Fever by Tim Cahill, the Outside Magazine writer that accompanied him on the trip in a GMC truck the length of the Americas. It's an interesting read, particularly the sections on reconnaissance and preparation - which is the majority of the book. Tim relates the story about the Suburban in Africa taking gunfire as part of the chapter on who the driver is and what his past experience is. You can buy it new on Amazon, as I bought a copy for a friend this year. Cahill has an easy, comic way of writing and has a number of other books, many are collections of this Magazine short stories. But the Road Fever book is my favorite.

If you like it, you should also consider 20,000 Miles South. It's a story about a couple in the 1950s that converted an amphibious Jeep for travel and drove to the tip of South America, using the amphibious feature to go around the Darien Gap and to cross the channels at the southern tip of South America.

 

[NorthernWoodsman]

well dang. guess i'm nobody.

 

[MACAMN]

Very cool. Garry's website for those interested http://adventuredrive.ca

 

[Larry]

I'm not familiar with copyright law but it would be great to be able to read the entire article. You have an amazing collection of vintage mags. What else would we be interested in seeing from your "vault"? :sombrero:

Oops...just spotted the link. Will check it out.

Richard,

Glad you found the link....it is a very interesting teaser to make you want to buy the book.

I’ve got lots and lots of old truck mags. I bet I have 300 lbs or more of magazines in the basement. Most are FOUR WHEELER from the mid-80’s to present, Peterson’s 4-wheel & Off-Road from the late 80’s to current and a lot of FOUR WHEELER and other truck and van mags from the 70’s that I managed to steal from my older brother when I was a kid. If there is ever an old add or anything you want me to look up let me know.

This evening I ran across a 1988 GMC add featuring Garry Sowerby from when he took the GMT400 GMC 6.2L from Terra del Fuego to the Arctic Circle. He did this run a few years after the Suburban adventure.

well dang. guess i'm nobody.

Heck yeah you are someone! You’re Northernwoodman and the first to comment

Very cool. Garry's website for those interested http://adventuredrive.ca

Neat site to read through. Thanks for the link

Larry, I've got an old copy of Road Fever by Tim Cahill, the Outside Magazine writer that accompanied him on the trip in a GMC truck the length of the Americas. It's an interesting read, particularly the sections on reconnaissance and preparation - which is the majority of the book. Tim relates the story about the Suburban in Africa taking gunfire as part of the chapter on who the driver is and what his past experience is. You can buy it new on Amazon, as I bought a copy for a friend this year. Cahill has an easy, comic way of writing and has a number of other books, many are collections of this Magazine short stories. But the Road Fever book is my favorite.

If you like it, you should also consider 20,000 Miles South. It's a story about a couple in the 1950s that converted an amphibious Jeep for travel and drove to the tip of South America, using the amphibious feature to go around the Darien Gap and to cross the channels at the southern tip of South America.

Yeah, Road Fever looks like a great book from the excerpt that I read. The part about getting shot at sounds very exciting (and scary if you were there). I’ll have to check out “20,000 Miles South” as well. Thanks for the heads up on that one.

 

[Sentinelist]

Sweeeeeeet.

 

[UHAULER]

I can't comprehend how they did those trips without a snorkel and limb risers:Wow1:

 

[bfdiesel]

I can't comprehend how they did those trips without a snorkel and limb risers:Wow1:

:xxrotflma :xxrotflma :xxrotflma :xxrotflma :xxrotflma :xxrotflma

 

[TankShooter]

Cool trips Larry, I'll have to click the links when it isn't almost 2 A.M. I remember watching the video of the engineers for the 1955/57? Chevy 4x4s taking the hard route up Pikes Peak. Sure it wasn't two continents, but they really beat those poor things and I think they took some punishment too. Those 6.2s could take a beating even if they wouldn't win any races.

I can't comprehend how they did those trips without a snorkel and limb risers:Wow1:

UHAULER, this quote wins ExPo for at least a week. I wish that I could get more play time than wrench time regardless of a lack of gear, but between an aging fleet and a family that is still young enough to require periodic supervision I don't get away often enough. I'd just be happy for a camping pad in the back of either of my Subs, as long as I had a view before the sun goes down.

 

[1stDeuce]

I don't recall the suburban trip, but I read the magazine reports on the K2500 trip back in '88/89. I remember they had a sweet diesel tank that was several inches tall and covered a lot of the bed floor, and that it didn't make it very far before a weld seam popped and drained over 100 gallons of diesel in the road while they watched. Oops! Looked like a fun trip, and definitely hit the mark on showing that the then-new GMT400 platform was pretty well put together! I'll have to read the suburban trip report too!!

Thanks!