Howzit!

On a recent South African "safari" up near the Cullinan mine, where the famous "Star of Africa diamond was discovered in 1905, I found my own "diamond in the rough"- a rare left hand drive, 5/7 seater '61 Chevrolet Suburban.

Incredibly, after lying out under the harsh African sun for the last 30 years, the body had only minor rust. Granted it needed a bit of work but the only thing that really concerned me was the badly damaged,(yellow/black) curved shaped windscreen. Because this vehicle was specially imported into South Africa, the windscreen would have to be sourced in the US. The owner, Monty (83), a sun baked, wily African Boer said he'd sell it to me but only if I accepted his challenge - to return the vehicle to GM's Detroit headquarters! Somewhat amused, I told him I'd think it over and set off to check out another classic - a '35 Chevy Pick Up, on the Skeleton Coast, a heavilly restricted diamond mining area in Namibia

Driving through Namibian desert, my mind wandered back to that "burb in the bush". I just couldn't leave it there to "RIP" (rust in peace! This old classic had plenty of life left in it. Suddenly, I got an idea. Why not take up Monty's challenge? I'd simply fix it up, ship it to Buenos Aires, drive it West over the Andes into Chile, on up through South / Central America / Mexico, right up to GM's Detroit headquarters car park! Who knows, maybe the GM marketing lads could use the Chev for a unique publicity campaign or simply exhibit this remarable "burb in the bush" in their museum! With some serious current losses (over $39 billion)these lads needed all the help they could get! Suddenly, another idea came into my head! Why not make a road trip TV show? Surely viewers and those TV network lads must be fed up with all those reality shows?

Here was a real life adventure! Everything was in place - a cool, rugged, weather-beaten vehicle, spectacular scenery, plenty of classics to track down and interesting characters to interview. I had the time, passion, experience, energy and with all my Cape Town movie contacts, it wouldn't be difficult to round up a motley crew of 3/4. There was only one obstacle - dosh!

Sadly, I wasn't exactly flush having invested a lot of dosh on my own '40's -'60's collection of Bentleys / Chevy Pick Ups and so on. Granted, renting them out as Cape Town movie "prop" vehicles did pay for some of those expensive "hospital" bills but if I was going to restore/ship this old Chevy across the Atlantic and film the whole adventure,I needed a partner! I felt pretty confident any investment would be recouped from DVD / TV network sales. Who knows, maybe even Discovery!Any adventurous souls out there? If so, email me at: fitzwinslow@mail.com. Pics of my "bush" classics on request.

Perhaps the next time one of your mates asks you " What's up Dick?" "Well actually Tom, I'm making a road trip movie!

Slan! The Celt!