Wolfsburg, Germany - One of the most exciting driving adventures of our time ended here this week after 76 451km through 26 countries and across six continents - the Touareg Experience 360°, a journey around the world in VW Touareg 4x4's.
The 360° was thought up by VW Marketing for people who dream of great adventures and of travelling through the most fascinating, beautiful and spectacular landscapes on their planet.
The journey, if organised privately, would not have been easy or safe which was why professional globetrotters organised the trip within the framework of the VW experience.
In one of the six 128kW Touareg R5 TDI, six guests, two journalists and two experts covered one each of a total of 13 stages.
"The experts and the guests," said Jörn Hinrichs, head of marketing at VW, "started with perfectly normal Touareg production vehicles. The performance of the Touareg simply provided the basis for this journey round the world."
The guests and journalists who had checked in on the journey as world travellers for a limited period changed at the end of each stage.
Ten nations travelled in the vehicle and their progress was followed with the up-to-date diary on the Internet.
Once on the road, the crews were fully independent: no special service vehicles with technical equipment - though they were not needed anyway, VW says.
One route included regions between China and Mongolia that had never been driven by a private expedition from the West.
- In the Amazon region of South America, the cars went through extreme jungle trails.
- In Bolivia, they climbed to 5600m.
- The temperature reached 45 degrees in the shade in the Sahara.
- When conditions allowed, they covered 1300km a day.
Each stage of the expedition had its own fascinating elements. After the journey from Germany to Alaska, the first stage went through the Rocky Mountains.
This was followed by a trip through south-west America to Baja California and then further south. The third stage in the Touareg's log book was the Transamazonica in South America and then the Andes and the Atacama Desert.
The next group then toured Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.
Along the Silk Road
The Touaregs then moved to Australia where the trek continued: Sydney into the Outback and then through Western Australia.
The first leg in Asia went, as already mentioned, through China and Mongolia, along the legendary Silk Road and through the Himalayas to India and then on to central Africa.
The next destinations were the Okavango Delta and the Kalahari before the route from Dakar to Wolfsburg marked the final stages of the world tour and the six Touaregs arrived there on October 29.
With the outstanding response of all participants - the tour was open to all those who enjoy travelling - and the reliability displayed by the Touaregs, VW declared the round-the-world a resounding success.
The main point of emphasis for the initiators was, alongside the reliability test of the vehicles, the vision of creating a space for extraordinary freedom.
More trips coming
A journey of this kind through Africa, Asia, America and Australia would have remained a dream for many of the participants without the Touareg Experience 360°.
The journey still continues although the world tour is finished. The VW experience will offer globetrotters a fascinating programme in 2006.
The Touaregs will, for example, travel to Botswana, China, Morocco, South Africa and Canada. Anyone wanting to travel and experience these great adventures should call the hotlines 0800-8938368 (0800/VWEVENT) or (from outside Germany) 0049-5136-9722262.
Those not wanting quite so much adventure can also call these numbers to receive information about other event journeys and the various different driver/safety training programmes offered by the
VW experience.