Gently Used Limousine Looking for Good Home
A Lincoln Town Car five-ft stretch limousine named Vegas: how’s that for rolling in style
through the muddy by-ways of Bamako?
Born in 1988, Vegas lived her youthful years at the beck and call of various celebrities in the
Hollywood area. She then spent some 15 years in Las Vegas, plying the strip as a limo for hire.
For most cars, that would have been the end of the road. But not for Vegas: in 2008, an intrepid
team from San Francisco bought her and prepared her the excursion of a lifetime.
The Plymouth-Bamako Challenge (http://www.plymouth-dakar.co.uk/) is simply to drive the 3,600
mile route from Plymouth, England to Bamako, Mali, in Africa on a limited budget, with
the principle aim of helping charitable causes in developing countries. The San Francisco based
team added in a cross country road-trip at the front end, trans-Atlantic shipping and a diversion
to Timbuktu at the back-end, just to keep things interesting.
It was an amazing journey – winding through the tiniest of alleys in the Medina of Marrakech,
off-roading through the soft Sarahan sands and along the beaches of Mauritania, ferrying across
the Niger river, and the brutal road to Timbuktu to name but a few. Fifteen vehicles left London,
twelve made it to Bamako – the losses included one rather hurried abandonment in the Sahara
under the watchful eyes of reported Algerian rebels.
Vegas turns out to be an excellent global travelling vehicle. With seating for up to nine
passengers, or more accurately five passengers and thousands of pounds of gear, the limousine
combines the carrying capacity of a pickup truck with a luxurious air-conditioned interior
including tv and minibar. And despite tipping the scale at over 8,000lbs fully loaded, gas
mileage is better than your average SUV due to the low frontal area. Of course this assumes that
you can keep that right foot under control – as the big 5.0l V8 puts ample power to pull away
from most everything on the road in these parts. The team can vouch for the utility of good solid
American horsepower as digging a limousine out of a sand dune is not an experience that should
be repeated. Provided you’re still moving you’re not stuck!
The team was within a few hundred miles of completing the return to Bamako from our postrally
excursion to Timbuktu (that road!) when the poor much abused rear wheel bearing gave out
stranding poor Vegas in Djenne. Despite bringing a complete set of tools and many many spare
parts, that particular $6 rear wheel bearing was not among them. After returning to the States the
bearing was shipped and in mid-2008 Vegas was finally returned to Bamako for intended sale by
auction to raise money for charity.
The full story of the experience is told here:
http://limotoafrica.blogspot.com/and photos are on flickr under the limotoafrica tag here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/88296296@N00/sets/72157603918882779/
But the story does not end there….
Through an unfortunate combination of aborted sale arrangements and the inevitable long distance
miscommunications, Vegas sat unused since early 2009. In late July team members
Mark Sinclair and Brian Dunn decided that the unresolved situation had to be dealt with. They
jumped on a plane with one small bag of clothing of two large bags of spare parts and tools
apiece. 48 hours later they arrived in Mali (worst flight ever) with a scant six days to resolve the
situation.
Fortunately Vegas had been well-cared for by our good friend in Bamako, Dagnon Souaybou
and family. With a tune-up and a new battery she was purring like a kitten again, ready to find a
new home. Sale proceeds will benefit the Rotary Club Of Bamako Amitie. Working with the
Ministry of Education they have initiated a computer education project in collaboration with the
World Computer Exchange (http://www.worldcomputerexchange.org/). They will furnish and
supply 400 refurbished desktop computers that will benefit 5,000 school children in the Bamako
District spread over 70 schools.
The sale is being handled by Mr. Sunny Akuopha of the Rotary Club Of Bamako Amitie who
may be reached at +223-65747477 or email: niger_sahel_energie@yahoo.fr
It will also be available for viewing at the Banque Internationale du Mali (BIM) Headquarters at
Bolibana.
The vehicle comes with a set of tools including a high-lift jack, several boxes of spare parts
including rebuild kits for many major components and four spare rear wheel bearings. Receipts
are available for over $9,000 in pre-departure repair and modification work. For a complete list
or for any questions on the vehicle please contact Mark Sinclair +1-415-286-1578, or email:
msinclair@degenkolb.com
Direct tax-deductable donations to the computer project may also be made through the World
Computer Exchange, here:
http://www.worldcomputerexchange.org/donate_cash
