UK to South Africa road trip in a 3-wheeler bags duo world record and car trouble aplenty

Englishman Ollie Jenks remembers when his friend first pitched the idea to him. “It was so ridiculous I couldn’t say no,” Jenks says. The proposal by his Canadian buddy Seth Scott, a fellow lover of cars and crazy adventures, was for them to drive a decades-old British-made Reliant Robin car from London to the southern tip of Africa – a 22,500km (14,000-mile) journey through 22 countries – to set a record for the longest trip in a three-wheeled vehicle. In March, they became the first people to drive a three-wheeled Reliant Robin across Africa, travelling from London to Cape Town. Reliant Robins have cultlike status in the UK as humble three-wheelers that, in Jenks’ words, were designed to go to the shops and back in 1970s Britain. They went out of production in the early 2000s but remain loved in British culture. Yet you could not find a less suitable vehicle to take thousands of miles through tropical jungles, mountain ranges and deserts down the west side of Africa. And that is precisely why Jenks went for the absurd plan. Sheila, the silver three-wheeler – one of the last Reliant Robins to be built – was acquired specifically for the adventure. Jenks and Scott set off in October 2025 with a can of fuel and a few essential supplies strapped to Sheila’s small roof, and a large amount of blind hope that they would somehow make it to Cape Town, South Africa, near the bottom of the world. “No power steering, no air con, and it doesn’t do well up hills or down them. It is the most unsuitable car for probably any journey,” Jenks says in an unkind assessment of Sheila’s abilities. “We made friends with the designer of this car, and he’s scared to take it any more than 20 miles.” Jenks and Scott ignored all the advice and took Sheila on the epic journey over four and a half months that cost in the region of US$40,000 to US$50,000, Jenks says. They had help from sponsors and crowdfunding, and documented the journey on an Instagram page that pulled in nearly 100,000 followers under the title, “14,000 miles, 3 wheels, 0 common sense”. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hold My Gear (@hold.mygear) They arrived in Benin during an attempted coup. They skirted through northern Nigeria as the United States launched air strikes on Islamic State targets. They were given a military escort for about 480km through a region of separatist violence in Cameroon. “Imagine this car in a military convoy,” Jenks says. And there were many brushes with traffic-related danger, including when an overtaking bus almost flattened Sheila against a cliff face in Congo. True to form that Reliants are sometimes not so reliable, there were also countless breakdowns on the punishing roads. Sheila needed her wheel springs replaced in the first two weeks. The gearbox broke in Ghana, leaving them with only fourth gear. In Cameroon, there were clutch and distributor problems and then the big one: the engine blew up. Through all the technical problems, the kindness of strangers and the intrepidness of Jenks and Scott kept them going. One man got a new gearbox shipped to Ghana. Reliant enthusiasts in the UK helped find a new engine to send to Cameroon. After one breakdown, people helped load Sheila onto a cattle truck so she could be taken to a garage. Mechanics across the continent screwed, hammered and welded Sheila to keep her together, sometimes shaking their heads at the madness of it all. But there were also majestic moments, the kind that Jenks and Scott had envisioned to make it all worth it. Sheila cruised through stunning mountain ranges and vast deserts, where surely no Reliant Robin had gone before. She went on safari, driving alongside galloping giraffes, spotting endangered rhinos and posing for a picture next to a giant elephant. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hold My Gear (@hold.mygear) More than 120 days after setting off, she rattled into Cape Town on an engine that began badly overheating in the Namibian desert and had been touch-and-go for about 1,600km. “This is a great underdog story,” says Graeme Hurst, a South African car lover who followed them on Instagram and came to see Sheila. “I see the farcical kind of comical nature of it … but also the sheer admiration. I mean, they have utter tenacity.” In South Africa, Sheila was put on temporary display in a showroom for high-end cars and was the centre of attention ahead of the glittering Porsches and Mercedes, showing off her broken side window, her petrol-stained windscreen, her bent tyre rims and her countless dents and scratches. She will rest now and be given the thorough service she deserves, Jenks says. Eventually, she will be driven to Kenya, put on a ship to Turkey and then make one last trip back to the UK to find a home at the London Transport Museum. Jenks says he felt triumphant after reaching Cape Town, but relieved to have survived and finally be out of the tiny two-seater. “It was like driving a motorised coffin,” he says.

UK to South Africa road trip in a 3-wheeler bags duo world record and car trouble aplenty

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}22,500km, 22 countries, 1 Reliant Robin. Two friends’ intercontinental road trip was risky and rewarding. But why embark on such a journey?

22,500km, 22 countries, 1 Reliant Robin. Two friends’ intercontinental road trip was risky and rewarding. But why embark on such a journey?