A modest van has been restored into a supervan and taken on a 10,000 mile journey across 12 European countries.
The supervan, a 1960 Ford Anglia van, was restored and refurbished from its status as a banger.
Reporter Brian Cleeve speaks to driver of the vehicle Brian Nelson who made the journey across Europe and Russia in their "Supervan" in the company of his co-driver RTÉ cameraman Paddy McLintock.
The conversion of the van was long and tedious making the vehicle safe to travel across the Alps and survive unpaved and muddy roads. Originally worth about £60, the van had clocked up around 180,000 miles. The engine was completely overhauled and the chassis was strengthened for reliability, safety and comfort. A new carburettor was installed and the wiring was redone. However, for Brian Nelson, the most important upgrade to the car was in relation to comfort and he says that the trip would not have been possible without the addition of new seats.
Without the seats involved, it just wouldn't have been possible.
Brian Nelson along with his co-driver, spent around 20 hours a day in the car, each taking it in turns in the driving seat. They covered around 800 miles every 24 hours.
The overall average speed was about 40 miles an hour.
The dashboard contains a number of technical instruments, the most important of which is probably the oil temperature gauge. The van even includes a tram bell mainly used for fun.
As regards the traffic, Brian says it was "pretty hair-raising" particularly in Moscow where there are six lanes of traffic "rather like lemmings". The quality of road surfaces varied greatly between the cities and rural areas and were challenging to drive through.
The drivers barely stopped to eat, surviving on boxes and boxes of slimming biscuits.
The journey saw Supervan being shipped to Liverpool, driven to London and loaded on a Russian ship for Finland. The journey on road took the men through Russia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia, Italy and France.
This episode of 'Tangents' was broadcast on 10 October 1972. The reporter is Brian Cleeve.
A miscellany of events, entertainment, opinions and personalities, 'Tangents' was first aired on Monday 25 September, 1972 and ran until 1974. Tangents was presented by Cathal O'Shannon and Doireann Ní Bhriain on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and by John O'Donoghue each Tuesday.
