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From Luton to Sri Lanka: Remembering an epic 1959 road trip

In the summer of 1959,twisted fate poker four young men set off on a road trip halfway across the globe that would shape the rest of their lives.

While their goal of emigrating to Australia wasn't unusual back then, their choice of transport - a second-hand 1936 Ford V8 - made the journey across continents and time zones truly remarkable.

They set off from Luton Town Hall on 30 June, armed with little more than youthful ambition and a few hundred pounds between them.

The group - John Everest, John Willmore, Peter Taylor, and John McQueen - eventually sold the car in Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon), making a ￡50 profit that helped fund their final leg to Australia.

Sixty-six years on, Mr Taylor, now 90, has been recounting how illness, mechanical mishaps - and keeping a tight rein on money - helped forge the adventure of a lifetime.

The group purchased a "well looked-after" former chauffeur-driven car to start the journey, and from there, the adventure unfolded.

"We had luggage on the top, in the backs, on the floor," Mr Taylor recalls.

"You weren't comfortable, but you got used to it."

Mr Taylor, a retired statistician, was appointed the group's treasurer, managing their fast-dwindling funds.

"I was very tight-fisted," he laughs. "You had to be. We had to get there with the money we had."

But his strong head for numbers ensured the group - who were all from Luton apart from Mr Everest - had enough money for food and other essentials along the way.

The rest of the crew self-appointed their roles for the trip: navigator, mechanic and, importantly, someone in charge of food.

They first drove through France, Italy, and Greece, eventually reaching Turkey and plunging into the heart of Asia.

Nights were spent sleeping in the car, camping in tents by roadsides, or in rest houses for travellers.

The heat didn't always agree with the car's engine though.

"When it was really hot we travelled during the night," Mr Taylor says.

Mechanical issues were inevitable, but they usually found some way of continuing their journey.

"He always managed to find somebody to help out," Mr Taylor says of their mechanic Mr Everest, who was from Harpenden.

"He was fantastic."

On their journey, the group was met with extraordinary kindness. "We were often given accommodation by decent people," Mr Taylor remembers.

"Particularly the Pakistanis - I found them very friendly. In places like Lahore and Multan, we got on very well with the locals, even some quite wealthy people who looked after us."

The journey wasn't without hardship.

All four men lost weight and battled bouts of dysentery. "It's quite natural," Mr Taylor shrugs. "You just have certain types of dysentery, I suppose."

They visited embassies in each country to collect letters from home, a lifeline of connection in a pre-digital world. From there they penned updates to their family, and their progress was printed in the local press, which gave them the moniker "The Luton Wanderers".

Fellow crew member John Willmore reported in a "Ceylon or Bust" column that conditions were often tough.

En route to Lahore, he wrote: "The petrol just evaporates, and temperatures have reached over 120 in the shade."

And despite the car's age, they completed the journey without major breakdowns, replacing all four tyres and improvising repairs with whatever materials they could find.

After almost 13 weeks, the best part of 9,000 miles on the clock, and dozens of memorable photos taken on Peter’s Kodak Brownie camera, they arrived in Sri Lanka, where their road trip ended.

Remarkably, they sold the car to a local for ￡115, having paid just ￡65 for it back home.

"Believe it or not, we made 50 quid on it," Peter chuckles, despite it clocking up 9,000 additional miles.

From there, the band of friends continued their journey in the more usual way - by boat - to Australia.

For decades, Mr Taylor's story has been retold to family and friends, including Steve Nicholls, the son of Mr Taylor's cousin.

"Pete comes to see us quite regularly," Mr Nicholls' wife Kirsty says. "It's always nice to hear his stories. We're very proud of such an amazing achievement."

Asked whether modern cars could survive such a journey, Mr Nicholls is doubtful.

"Oh definitely not. The mechanics now are all computerised," he said.

"You can't fix them at the roadside like you could with the old ones."

He admits no one in the family is planning to capture the same spirit of adventure as their globetrotting relative.

"My daughters love to travel," he adds.

"Whether they'd drive 9,000 miles is another thing, but what Peter did is truly inspirational."

Mr Taylor, on the other hand, still dreams of the road.

Asked if he'd do it again, he said: "I'd love to - if I was that age again."

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