Melbourne to Moscow - in a Model T
On Friday, October 21, the punters who were dodging the rain outside the walls of the historic Melbourne building witnessed the start of a truly epic journey. While cross-continental trips are nothing new these days, what makes Constantine Mandylas's journey unique is that he's choosing to travel across Australia, Africa, the Middle East and Russia in a 1913 Model T Ford. The journey, dubbed 'Melbourne to Moscow' is in part a tribute to Francis Birtles and Andrei Nagel, two adventurers who undertook similarly arduous motoring journeys almost a century ago.
While the escapades of Birtles may be better known here, Andrei Nagel is probably a new name to many Australians. Like Birtles, Nagel started on bicycles in his native Russia before taking to automobiles. After purchasing a Russian-made car in 1910, Nagel took part in a number of events in Russia before trying his luck in the 1912 Monaco Rally (later to be known as the Monte Carlo Rally). Nagel's starting point was St. Petersburg in Russia, which meant he had to cover over 3,000 kms to reach Monaco - in the middle of the European winter. Remarkably, Nagel not only completed the journey with two passengers in tow, but finished in first place, hours ahead of the second place getter who had covered only half of Nagel's distance.
For a period after this, Nagel became the poster boy for Russian motoring, and followed up his 1912 journey with similar motoring adventures throughout Europe, Russia and Northern Africa - usually in domestically manufactured 'Russo-Balt' vehicles. Choosing to live in exile in France following the Russian Revolution in 1917, Nagel became a regular contributor to Russian language publications and also covered the Paris Motor Shows prior to his death in 1956.
In addition to honouring the 100th Anniversary of the exploits of Nagel and Birtles, Mandylas's trip will also mark the 70th anniversary of the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between Australia and (then Soviet) Russia. Following the start in Melbourne on October 21, Mandylas expects to complete the trip - arriving in Moscow - in June, 2012. A website - http://melbournetomoscow.com/eng.html (no 'www') - has been created by Mandylas around the journey and features more details on the inspiration for this epic trek, along with route information and some interesting period photos of Nagel, Mandylas's Model T and more.
We wish Mandylas every success on his journey. We're sure the Model T will turn heads no matter where he is!
