Transglobal Car Expedition begins epic round-the-world journey

4X4 Australia recently joined rally champion and stunt driver Andrew Comrie-Picard at The Explorers Club (TEC) in New York City for the send-off of a round-the-world journey of epic scale, the Transglobal Car Expedition (TGCE).

Hopping out of his 6x6 Ford Super Duty F-350, fitted with 44-inch tyres no less, we headed through a pair of weathered iron doors into hallowed ground. TEC is a place of legends, where a stroll through the membership archives reveals exploration icons such as Roald Amundsen, Robert Peary, Edmund P. Hillary and Neil Armstrong.

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Andrew introduced us to the team, which included an international assembly of today’s foremost polar explorers and scientists: Arctic Trucks chairman Emil Grimmson, Vasily Elagin (creator of the Yemelya amphibian 6x6), Vasily Shakhnovsky (seven summits and two poles), and the list went on. The cast also included Dr. Christian Haas, an ice geophysics professor at the University of Bremen, and astronaut and engineer Paolo Nespoli.

Although the expedition will circumnavigate the globe from pole-to-pole, the inclusion of Haas and Nespoli are due to its groundbreaking scientific initiatives. While en route to the North Pole and Greenland, they will be toting electromagnetic induction (EMI) sounding equipment for the collection of accurate, real-time data on sea ice thickness.

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The TGCE has also partnered with the Cosmic Pi project to document cosmic radiation at the magnetic pole, and NOIRLab’s Globe at Night, which focuses on the effects of light pollution. Due to the project’s scientific components, TEC sanctioned it as an official Flag Expedition, and one of their coveted red, white, and blue banners will join the team.

The fleet includes the Arctic Trucks AT44 Ford F-350 we were driving, an AT44 F-150 hybrid, a fleet of AT35 Expeditions, and of course the Yemelya amphibians. If they successfully reach the North Pole and Greenland without falling through the ice or being swallowed by a crevasse, they’ll ship to Europe, thread a path through the Middle East and down the breast of Africa on their way to Antarctica and the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.

After attempting a first vehicle traverse to Cape Journey, they’ll jump across the Straits of Magellan and up the spine of the Americas. After 50,000 kilometres, 30 countries, five continents, and 17 months, they’ll roll past Times Square and have gone full circle back to The Explorers Club.