A modified Land Rover Defender, which was the first and only vehicle in history to successfully cross the treacherous Bering Strait, is going under the hammer on 18th October at the Cheffins Vintage Sale hosted at Sutton, near Ely, Cambridgeshire.
Owned by cattle farmer and lifelong adventurer, Steve Burgess, the Defender made motoring history as part of the legendary Cape-to-Cape Expedition - an ambitious journey from England to Siberia that culminated in the world-first crossing of the icy Bering Strait in 2008.
Steve first had the idea for The Cape-to-Cape Expedition in 1992 and had discovered that Ford was planning a similar adventure which was covered in its 'World Overland' TV series. After 10 years of planning and around five years of modifying a prototype, Steve would go on to buy the brand-new Land Rover which was used for the trip in 2007. Steve and Dan Evans, from Protection & Performance, a company which specialised in adapting 4x4s, set about modifying the vehicle, adding a propeller and two enormous red floats, which have a combined volume of 1,480 gallons and maintain 5.5 tons of buoyancy. The vehicle was adapted to be fully waterproofed, including the engine, and fully insulated to prepare it for the winter crossing. It was tested on the Irish Sea, the Channel and Coniston Water before setting off on the expedition on January 29th, 2008. The vehicle was also fitted with removable caterpillar tracks, enabling it to cross snow and ice on its journey to the strait, which would take it all the way from North Yorkshire, through Europe and across Siberia’s frozen wilderness, crossing ice and snowdrifts, weathering temperatures of below -45c, and passing polar bears before reaching its destination at Uelen on 3rd March. Steve drove this section of the expedition with a co-driver Simon Dedman, avid traveller and Founder of West Riding Milk Testing.
Once the Land Rover was stationed in Uelen, the final Russian outpost before the strait, Steve and Dan returned to the UK to wait for the ice to melt, returning on July 6th, 2008. After nine hours battling shifting ice and unpredictable seas, they reached the remote Diomede Islands, where a violent storm with 30ft waves forced them to wait out a month-long delay. On 7th August, they made the final part of the crossing and six and a half hours later, the amphibious Land Rover landed on the shores of Wales, Alaska, sealing its place in motoring history.
Steve, 70, has long been an explorer, having hitchhiked through Asia in the 1960s and 1970s, and completed previous expeditions including the Darien rainforest in Panama and the Ethiopian highlands. Since the Bering Strait crossing, the Land Rover was also used by Steve to drive to the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan and otherwise has been used on the farm in Scotland.
Steve Burgess comments: “I am a beef farmer and have been all my life, but I have always loved travel – and the more remote, the better. Back in 1993 I found myself in South Africa and thought that I wanted to travel to South America, but I wanted to do it by car – and that’s how the idea was born. I realised I would have to cross the Bering Strait, so I needed to make a car which could do that. Coincidentally, Ford were trying to do just the same and they failed, and this made me even more determined. But this trip was big and complex. It took 10 years to plan and cost me hundreds of thousands of pounds. One of the main issues was Russian Bureaucracy. Permissions to drive across Russia cost me over £100,000 in the end. The Far East of Russia is completely remote, it’s a no-go, there’s no roads, which is why we set off in the winter when we knew it would be covered in ice. It freezes solid in the winter, and that was the time we had to cross it, in total we were off road for over 4,000km. Going over the strait was so complex, but it was the ultimate challenge – ice, storms, and endless uncertainty. It was one of the most exciting things I have ever done. I have just turned 70 and I think it’s time to move on and let someone else take it for another adventure. I have had my fun with it; it doesn’t owe me anything. It only did 200km last year – so I know I don’t need it.”
Tom Godsmark, Director at Cheffins says: “Defenders are always popular with collectors, but this example is in a league of its own. With its extraordinary expedition history and fully retained amphibious capabilities, it offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for any thrill-seeker or enthusiast. This really is a part of motoring and expeditionary history, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to offer it for auction.”
The Land Rover is being sold with all the amphibious equipment and various memorabilia items from the expedition, including original survival suits, branded clothing, originally export XA number plates, press and magazine cuttings and a small ship’s register SSR certificate.
It carries an estimate of £8,000 - £10,000.
For more information, please contact Cheffins auctioneers on 01353 777767, machinery@cheffins.co.uk