Fasten your seatbelts because this is one road trip you don’t want to miss.
It was difficult not to stare at the line of classic vehicle designs and animated signage on over 50 Volvos this week in Canmore. And the drivers behind the grand journey through the Western hemisphere were as interesting as their vehicles.
The Pan Americana Volvo Classics Doing The Indian Trail is comprised of 55 Volvos (all at least 25 years old) with adventurous travellers mainly hailing from the Netherlands and Germany.
The wheels began rolling in Central America’s Panama in July, and have seen tropical terrain, deserts, Rocky Mountains, and untouched wilderness while travelling through the “Wild West” of North America.
The participants will travel more than 13,000 kilometres over about five weeks to reach their final destination, Anchorage, Alaska.
The travellers stopped in Canmore on Sunday evening (Aug. 10) and recharged before returning to the road on Tuesday morning.
While inspecting his engine during the stop in Canmore, Derk Van der Spek-Meder said the trip is just for fun and mostly consists of car fanatics who are interested in cultures worldwide.
Throughout the trip’s course, the nomads take excursions during resting days to museums, national parks and other destinations, Van der Spek-Meder said, adding the Volvo classics have participated in similar lengthy trips in past years.
This is his second time participating, and Van der Spek-Meder said the trip has been successful, except some minor injuries after one vehicle was involved in a collision with livestock somewhere along the Indian Trail.
The cars were originally transported by ship from Belgium to Panama, and will be picked up a port in Alaska for the return trip to Belgium. The European travellers will fly each way and pick up their vehicles at a later date.
