In 1956, the Montin family of four made an extraordinary 12,000-mile (over 19,000 km) journey from Sydney to Paris on a single Lambretta Lambro 150 FD three-wheeled scooter. The family consisted of French father Guy Montin, his British wife Beryl, and their two young children, Charles (4) and Yvonne (2).
A Lambretta Lambro 150 FD, a three-wheeled light commercial vehicle, not a typical two-wheeled scooter. Guy custom-built a small cabin of marine plywood and canvas on the back to accommodate his family and their luggage, which could also be used for sleeping. The vehicle had a top speed of just 25 mph (around 40 km/h). Beryl referred to the modified scooter as “the contraption.” The total journey took several months, with the main Sydney to Paris leg taking over two months of actual travel, plus extended stops due to weather and hospitality.
The family first drove 3,000 miles across the Australian outback from Sydney to Perth, where they boarded a ship to Colombo, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). From there, they sailed to Bombay (Mumbai), India, where the main overland journey began. Their route then took them through: India, Pakistan, Persia (modern-day Iran), Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia (former), Italy, and France.
The Montins had initially planned to spend six weeks in India. Guy had carefully studied the seasonal movement of the monsoon rain and come up with a way of avoiding it. Nonetheless, it was the monsoon which eventually brought their travels to a stop, at which point Guy, Beryl and the children had to rely on the hospitality of the Indian people to offer them shelter. Their stay ended up lasting more than four months. An Indian newspaper focused on the family’s daily baths in the Ganges River and their strict adherence to vegetarian food as the main reason for their good health.
Later, Guy Montin wrote a letter to the Lambretta company. He explained that he has constantly been told that he’s insane, and that no one has at any point believed that they would reach their goal. In Sydney, no one thought they would even reach Perth. In Colombo, people swore that they could not reach Lahore through the monsoon. In Lahore, that it would be impossible to reach Quetta. In Quetta, they were perceived as mad if they really thought that they would be able to drive through Persia.
In the letter, Guy wrote – triumphantly and with great pleasure: “Eppoi si muove we are in Teheran...” Eppoi si muove translates to something along the lines of: Yet, we’re still moving... He continued the letter: “We have passed the worst. We now know for certain a family of four can eat, sleep and travel fifteen thousand kilometers on a Lambretta Furgoncino. We are not mad. In fact we are, the four of us, in splendid mental and physical shape. Just wait until you see us.
“Meanwhile we must stress an important fact: it is through no fault on the part of our machine that we have taken over six months to cover this part of our trip. It is the people who will not let us go. The engine purrs like a cheetah in the crisp morning air, the children have been fed, clothed and ‘potted.’ Mama has just retrieved Papa’s lost goggles. We are ready for the days three hundred kilometers...”
Eventually, they finally reached Paris and spent the night camping in their trusty Lambretta within the Bois de Boulogne park in the outskirts of the city. They have traveled through 11 different countries and have encountered everything from meter-high snow to heatwaves and monsoon rain. They’ve met primitive tribes, thick jungle and relentless desert. They’ve been plagued by dysentery and not least by the serious accident in the Australian outback. They sum up their spendings during their epic roadtrip: A total of 350 pounds – 80 for petrol, 200 for food and 5 for goatskin jackets and gloves. The rest was spent on repairs, visas and ferry tickets.
Back in England, The Sunday Express focused more on a couple of remarks made by Beryl. Under the headline: “One lipstick – on a trip half around the world” Beryl confessed that it wasn’t even the lack of daily baths which bothered her the most. It was the long and tiring route from Quetta in Pakistan to Mashed in Persia. This stretch was almost 3,000 km long and took them several weeks to put behind them, during which they lived solely off dried goat cheese and fruit. Still, Beryl did admit that not having a warm bath since leaving Sydney did eventually affect her mood, and it brought great joy when they finally had warm baths again in Persia.
Guy got to visit his family in Cahors in south-western France, and Beryl received a very warm welcome from her family in her hometown of Margate in the UK.
It had been a true adventure for the Montin family and a colossal, life-defining experience for the children Charles and Yvonne. Guy took a few notes during their trip, but mostly about the conversations they had, and seemingly mostly for personal use. Short episodes were captured by newspaper articles published as the family made their way through the many countries. In a time devoid of social media and before the need for self-promotion, tales from their travels are sparse. Even so, it’s food for thought and will surely energize most people’s fantasies. Just imagine all the adventures and experiences encompassed by a family roadtrip around half the globe on a three-wheeled scooter with 2hp and a total load of maximum 500 kg.
(via The Montin Adventure and ViaRETRO)
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