Building a replica Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and driving it halfway round the world just because somebody said they couldn’t.
Carolyn Pointing asked her husband Nick to build her dream car, flippantly he said yes. Could he take a 1973 Landrover, a singer sewing machine, M&S brass lamp stands, a bathroom cabinet and recreate a kids movie icon.

The sheer lack of being taken seriously sparked a defiant and outlandish claim to drive 20,000 thousand miles down under to prove them wrong. The adventure through war zones, Turkish mountains and the Iranian desert was the most scary, emotional and insecure thing they had ever done. Concerns over quirky reliability, thirst for oil and a laughable budget
really was overland to Australia on a wing and a prayer.

When Nick and Carolyn’s best friends emigrated to Australia, Nick promised to make a visit down under.

At the time they never knew it would be in a replica Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
 
The thought of traveling 20,000 miles in a car saved from the scrap yard seemed very hard to swallow not only because they had no idea where to start but were both to embarrassed to tell anyone.

The constant lack of vision and support tested their resolve to limits. Any serious planning took second place to organizing children, work and home, topped with a feeble budget, this made it a mentally impossible task.

Above and beyond their wildest expectations the car was complete and making good on their overland promise was a truly scary and daunting task. The security of well paid jobs a family home and two children made them question what they were doing.

Leaving on a bright September morning to a wave of Union flags and well wishers, Nick and Carolyn portrayed a cavalier exterior of confidence, whilst crumbling inside to insecurities of a vague route, a challenging budget and a genuine fear of the unknown.