Ford Model A adventure: driving from New Zealand to the UK

By Charlie Calderwood

| 24 Jul 2025

Classic & Sports Car – Ford Model A on the Hippie Trail: from New Zealand to the UK

Looking to come back to the UK in 1972 from a job that had taken him over to New Zealand, Lyndon Yorke didn’t book a plane ticket home as you might expect.

He looked up at the map of the world on his wall, and decided to drive his way back in a pre-war car.

Much to his surprise, he soon had a whole group alongside him, setting off on the Hippie Trail, in reverse, in two Ford Model As.

Lyndon’s 1928 Ford Model A Tudor was unearthed on a farm in New Zealand, with a tree growing through its engine bay

Most of Lyndon’s housemates laughed when he first mentioned his idea for an overland return to Britain; Jim Blum was the only one who decided to join the adventure.

Jim and Lyndon went hunting for appropriate cars straight away, and soon discovered that most local farms had a slightly rusty Ford Model A tucked away somewhere.

By then around 40 years old, Canadian-built examples had been among New Zealand’s most popular pre-war cars.

Built just across the Detroit River (and, counterintuitively, slightly further south) from Dearborn, at Ford’s first assembly plant outside the US, these Model As from Windsor, Ontario, could be sold within the Imperial preference system – and Kiwis lapped them up.

Jim’s 1930 Ford Model A Fordor as it was found in 1972

Strong, simple and sturdy in construction, they suited New Zealand’s sparse, rural population far better than most of the British motors that were offered there.

Before finding a car, Lyndon rented a small workshop, soon named the ‘Model A Factory’, and not long after, a 1928 Tudor (two-door) model was spotted in a nearby farmer’s field.

There was a tree growing through the engine bay and many parts were scattered around the field, but it became Lyndon’s for just NZ$25 – the equivalent of £1.15 in 1972 (c£13 today).

After looking at a few more wrecks, a 1930 Fordor (four-door) was found for Jim, too.

Work under way at the ‘Model A Factory’ in New Zealand

Adverts went in local papers for parts and, within a few weeks, five truckloads of spares were picked up for little money, including nine engines, 32 wheels and two spare chassis.

There are minor differences between the 1928 and 1930 Model As, but parts are still largely interchangeable: the latter has bigger wheels, a steering box with greater adjustability and differently shaped headlights.

As a testament to Ford’s build quality, most of the parts came back in good shape after sandblasting.

The team expanded while Lyndon and Jim continued preparing the cars.

The first fuel stop for the Ford Model As – thirsty engines meant petrol range would become an issue on the more remote parts of the trip

Swiss cabinetmaker Hans Meier proved invaluable for working on the wooden body frames and floors.

Meanwhile, schoolteachers Colleen Kent and Colleen Shackleton joined the endeavour, and began rebuilding both cars’ seats.

The extra hands sped up the build on the easy-to-work-on Fords, and the restored front ends came together in a couple of evenings.

Jim had repaired one of the leaky fuel tanks, too, discovering to his own surprise just how long fuel vapour will stick to a petrol tank, after taking a welding torch to a leaking seam.

Departure day, February 1973 – the cars were still being readied at five o’clock that morning

Instability in what was then Burma (now Myanmar) meant Sri Lanka was now the only landing option in Asia, and, with high shipping prices in mid-’72, Lyndon was in no rush.

The plan was to go in February ’73, to avoid India’s monsoon season.

Three more adventurers joined as the team got back to work: Paulette Wheaton, Kent Robertson and Liz Thevenard.

The speed of the preparation increased through late 1972, with Jim rebuilding both cars’ gearboxes and the engine of his Fordor, while Lyndon got a local mechanic to do the Tudor’s motor.

How could you add further adventure to the Hippie Trail in 1973? Doing it backwards, in pre-war Fords, was Lyndon Yorke’s answer

By the beginning of February, the Fords were running – but Lyndon broke his wrist hand-cranking the engine when the ignition was too far advanced and it backfired.

The cars still weren’t driving just days before departure, so Lyndon and team called on every friend and acquaintance they could to help out at the Model A Factory.

Both Fords were finally finished at 5am on the day the team set off.

Three weeks later the two cars, stuffed with dried food and toilet paper, were precariously hoisted from the ship’s deck on to the harbour in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

All hands on deck: arriving in Sri Lanka, and the Fords endure a precarious ship-to-shore disembarkation

It was to be the Fords’ shakedown; it was also Lyndon’s first time driving the Model A.

“Unlike a Model T, the controls are conventional,” he explains.

“The only thing that takes some getting used to is the three-speed ’box. Reverse is where you usually find first, so you have to take care at junctions.”

Blockages in the gravity-fed fuel system were persistent in the hot, dusty conditions, while wheelnuts were working loose and the heat melted the New Zealand-sourced grease in one of the Tudor’s front hubs, causing the wheel to shimmy.

A pair of fishing boats lashed together formed a raft to make it across the shallows from the ferry to Pamban Island

Fortunately, local agent Ceylon Ford still had a storeroom full of Model A and T parts, including the kingpins required to fix the Tudor… plus the use of a workshop, too.

There’s no actual bridge at Adam’s Bridge, Sri Lanka’s closest point to India.

Instead, the cars were loaded on to a ferry, then, once near Pamban Island, lowered on to a pair of fishing boats each before finally being hauled up the beach.

Hours of customs negotiations followed, sped up only by the gift of Western cigarettes.

The Ford Model As and their crews camping in northern India

There was nothing more than a railway bridge connecting Pamban to India’s southern coast in 1973, so the two cars boarded a train for the 15-mile crossing to the mainland.

Having taken a day to cross just 50 miles of water, at the mercy of customs officials and ships’ captains, setting off on the open road to Madras (now Chennai) was the beginning of real freedom.

Open road lay ahead, but, as the Fords motored their way north, a banging began to emanate from the Tudor’s engine bay.

With a big thump, a splash of water and the hiss of steam, a fan blade came loose and spiked the radiator.

Playing chicken on the busy, narrow Indian roads

The Fordor then towed the Tudor to the next town, where a mechanic isolated the holed section of radiator, losing about a third of its capacity, and welded the blade back on.

Next came the Deccan Plateau, Bangalore and Hyderabad, by which point the Tudor was struggling again, this time with a broken leaf spring.

Another local spannerman stepped in to help, at minimal cost.

By now, Lyndon and comrades were familiar with India’s narrow roads and the constant game of chicken to be played with native lorry drivers. There were near misses, and the trucks rarely gave way.

Locals take an interest in the Ford Model As

It’s nearly 1000 miles from Hyderabad up to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, taking the Fords across dry, dusty terrain, in often isolated areas.

The Model As could set a good speed here: fully laden, that meant 40mph.

Racing toward Agra to catch the Taj under the last night of a new moon, the Fordor roared with noise as its exhaust completely detached itself.

Locals, birds and sacred cows scattered in all directions.

The Ford Model As outside the magnificent National Art Gallery in Madras (now Chennai)

While Jim picked up the pieces of Ford, a soldier approached and gestured that they could use a freshly built loading ramp to repair the car.

They must have been the first to use it because the Fordor’s roof snagged some low telephone wires on the way up and pulled them down.

As Jim fixed the exhaust, everyone else tied the strewn cables back together and calmed the anxious army private.

Despite fuel blockages and punctures along the way, plus bribes to soldiers to keep the ferry crossing the Chambal River running past nightfall, the group reached the white marble of the Taj Mahal as it glistened in the moonlight.

The Ford Model A pair on the road in Pakistan

“It was one of the most picturesque sights of the trip,” recalls Lyndon. “We made it just an hour before closing, and it was well worth the dash.”

The drive to the old Imperial capitals of New Delhi and Shimla were comparatively leisurely, and the cars both proved reliable heading up into the foothills of the Himalayas.

A greater challenge awaited at the Pakistan border.

Tensions were high enough at the Wagah border crossing in the early 1970s that it was only open for limited time on a Wednesday.

Poor roads took their toll, and wooden blocks were needed to shore up the Ford Model A Fordor’s chassis

After hours of wrangling with officials, the Fords were finally allowed on to the half-mile stretch of no-man’s-land, before hours more waiting on the Pakistani side.

Creaking wheels on the Model As betrayed broken spokes that were duly welded up at the first major city, Gujranwala.

Throughout the trip, the strange Kiwi cars proved to be an attraction to locals, although someone did make off with a pair of sleeping bags, tools and the hydraulic jack in the commotion.

“We found the general mood in Pakistan to be fairly anti-visitor,” remembers Lyndon, “and the women in our group were seen as a novelty, which became quite dangerous at one point.”

The Ford Model A Fordor takes on the treacherous route through the infamous Khyber Pass

The group made the decision to motor towards Afghanistan as quickly as possible.

The party had to wait for their visas to be processed once they reached Islamabad, however, giving a chance to explore some of the mountains in the area.

Jim’s Model A was hit by a truck during this time, flattening its rear wing.

Three toll gates blocked the route to the mountain resort town of Murree, and the price doubled at each one.

Long stretches without fuel stops proved a challenge for the Ford Model A pair in Afghanistan

“At the second gate we decided to try and get through without paying, so I carefully explained to the guard that President Bhutto had given us permission to travel free of charge,” says Lyndon. “Quick-thinking Liz passed over a letter written by the Pakistan High Commission in Auckland, telling us of the latest petrol prices.

“The guard held the letter upside down, pretending to be able to read it, nodded and waved us through.”

Murree was a much friendlier place and, when forced to pull over to replace a piston in the Fordor, the gang was invited to a reception at the golf club by an elderly Englishman.

“It was like a mirage,” says Lyndon. “A very British afternoon tea, the old club frequented mainly by embassy staff from Islamabad.”

Breakdowns and roadside repairs were frequent

Machetes, flare guns and starting handles were on standby as the Model As made their way through the Khyber Pass, but it was the double-charging petrol salesmen who provided the real shakedown.

“A few miles into the spectacular Kabul Gorge, the road was blocked by fierce-looking tribesmen,” Lyndon recalls. “They were so amused by the Fords that all they demanded was a photograph.”

Blocks of hardwood had to be wedged between the Fordor’s springs and chassis at Kabul, because the rear end was sagging so much, while the 440-mile road to Kandahar without a fuel stop proved to be a real challenge to the cars’ range.

They had been averaging just 18mpg and, with every fuel container filled, Lyndon calculated that the Fords could cover just 450 miles – if they drove carefully.

Iran’s roads proved to be mostly well surfaced

Then the Tudor’s coil failed 200 miles in and, having already used the only spare, Jim was forced to drive the other car back to Kandahar and out again to fetch a spare 6V coil.

The decision to bring two cars, at least, was vindicated.

Iran brought the first consistently well-surfaced roads of the trip, finally easing the burden of constant punctures on the Fords’ worn tyres, although wrecks at the bottom of roadside ravines were still common.

After a relative holiday on the Caspian coast, the cars had another steep climb up the Zagros Mountains, including a single-lane tunnel.

The Fords’ 6V electrics struggled against the unlit tunnels in the Zagros Mountains in Iran

“After 15 minutes’ wait, we got a green light,” continues Lyndon.

“The Fords’ headlights were so poor that I had to resort to putting my hand out of the window to feel the side of the tunnel and hope for the best.”

More wood was wedged under the Fordor in Tehran, while valve guides and spark plugs were replaced on the rough-running 1928 car.

Lyndon found a small crack on the crankcase and traces of oil in the coolant – frequent top-ups and prayers were the only answer for now.

The Ford Model A Tudor at the end of the ferry ride across the Bosphorus, Turkey

A few hundred miles later, however, just outside Tabrīz, the previously repaired fan blade came loose once again, stabbing through the remaining section of the Tudor’s radiator.

It took four days to find a mechanic willing to patch it up at a reasonable price, having originally been quoted $100 (c$770 today).

The British Embassy warned the travellers about eastern Turkey and told them not to stop around the Kurdish town of Ağrı in particular.

Naturally, the Tudor broke down exactly there, forcing Lyndon hastily to rebuild the Ford’s Zenith carburettor on the car’s running board.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, offers a bird’s-eye view of the well-worn Fords

He says: “Before long we were surrounded by heavily armed locals wielding swords, long knives and guns.

“A large, intimidating chap pushed his way through the crowd and ordered us to follow him into a nearby hut.

“He tipped everything off the table, commanded us to sit down and shouted out orders to the aggressive mob.

“Next thing we knew, trays of tea and cakes appeared, and we were instructed to tuck in!”

The Ford Model As at the finish line at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, in the UK

Lyndon hoped to be one of the first across the then brand-new Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, but a delayed opening forced them on to one of the city’s car ferries alongside the local fleet of old taxis, some pre-war.

The fuel blockages and punctures finally abated by Greece.

The journey became far more leisurely, including a scenic drive up the Adriatic coast into Yugoslavia, before a rush through Austria to the border with Switzerland.

As ever, the Swiss police force was forensic, and refused entry to the Fords due to their bald and patched-up tyres.

Lyndon’s Ford Model A Tudor today – it was restored in the ’90s and is still on the road

That forced a return to Austria and a workshop that could retread the rubber.

Had border security spotted the blocks of wood propping up the Fordor, entry might have been denied completely.

Stops in Zurich and Paris quickly followed, before a Channel crossing provided by Lord Montagu in June.

The peer’s only condition was that the team make its finishing point the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, after which the group dispersed, many back to New Zealand, while Lyndon remained in the UK.

Jim’s Ford Model A Fordor now lives in Canada and has been fitted with a V8 engine

Lyndon still owns his 1928 Model A Tudor, 52 years later.

Restored in 1991, it is used to tow his mechanical “follies”– self-described Heath Robinson-like contraptions – to the Henley Royal Regatta each year; he also took it on a tour of Europe some years later.

Jim, meanwhile, repatriated his 1930 Fordor to Canada, where it gained a flathead V8 engine.

Despite the continual punctures, fuel blockages and broken spokes, the duo found that there’s nothing like a trip halfway across the world, with friends, to create a bond with a car.

Images: Lyndon Yorke

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