Adventure in Africa in a Hillman Imp, with Terence Tracey

Terence Tracey and Geoff Biermann enjoy their cars.

They specifically have quite a sweet spot in their hearts for the Hillman Imp, also known as the poor man’s porsche.

They decided to drive one from Johannesburg, South Africa, the way through Africa and Europe to London.

And they gave themselves a crazy deadline- travelling the 14000 km’s in less than 40 days!

And what an adventurous story it is!  

I had a delightful morning with Terence, sitting in one of his imps from his collection, mesmerised by his adventure.  

If you’ve ever been curious about travelling in Africa and enjoy a good story and adventure, you’re going to enjoy meeting Terence as much as I have- there’s lots of pearls of wisdom that Terence shares along his story, so it’s well worth a listen!

Podcasts

Audio:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:28:34 — 40.5MB)

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Video:

About Terence Tracey:

Born into an Irish-Catholic family of seventeen children, Terence was the youngest and still is! On completing school, he entered the hospitality trade as a trainee hotel manager working in the world-famous Towers Hotel in County Kerry, Ireland and in catering establishments in Paris, where he became a serious hobby photographer and took to writing poetry.

He moved to South Africa in the early eighties working for the hotel chains Southern Suns and Sun International for ten years before starting his own restaurant in Johannesburg. A few years later, he joined the First National Bank group, retiring at age fifty to return to the restaurant industry.

As a child, Terence recalls compliments from his teachers about his ability to write well. These accolades were remarkable as he was completely un-academic and quite a disruptive pupil for the most part!

He always had a keen interest in cars and enjoyed many successes competing in historic racing events in South Africa. In his car club, he took on the responsibility for the monthly club magazine for almost ten years.

No Way Back in his first completed book, although a previous attempt at writing has left him with a partly finished work of fiction, a project that he will soon complete.  Terence offers keynote talks about his adventure, highlighting many lessons and laughs along the way.

Contact and Info:

Cell: +27 83 601 7511
Email: info at scrooge dot co dot za
Website: http://jolonimp.wordpress.com

Bibliography:

• http://www.702.co.za/articles/282/terence-tracy
• http://blogs.timeslive.co.za/wheeldeal/2013/03/25/this-hillman-imp-is-driving-from-joburg-to-coventry/

Photo credits:

Images courtesy of Terence Tracey of Jolon Imp, http://jolonimp.wordpress.com