A million mile VW camper’s journey was cut short when it blew a gasket on the way from Cornwall to the VW factory where it was made.
The van known as Cecil, which has almost completed milestone miles with Cornish environmental charity Clean Ocean Sailing, was heading to the VW factory in Wolfsburg, Germany.
But a blown head gasket on the A30 east of Bodmin Moor meant the camper had to be towed back to his home in Gweek for repairs, the owner said.
Steve Green said he was determined to attempt the journey again to the factory where Cecil was made in 1972.
The van, which runs on recycled chip grease, has been Clean Ocean Sailing’s workhorse since Mr Green brought it to Cornwall from Australia in 1998.
Cecil is Mr Green’s daily driver and has a crane and winch attachment for collecting plastic waste from the coast that Clean Ocean Sailing collects for recycling.
The trip to Wolfsburg was a dream for Mr Green, who took the camper to an astonishing mileage, and the journey was filmed by The Travel Show for BBC News.
But a fan switch next to a new radiator was destroyed by hot exhaust and the engine overheated, leading to a gasket failure and a trip back to Gweek in a pickup truck.
‘Very emotional’
“When it breaks, it’s usually because there’s a chip in a pipe,” says Green.
‘At least everyone is safe. Cecil is now back in Gweek, I’ll put him in the workshop in a moment.
“I’m going to take the cylinder head off, have it machined, check for cracks and put them all back together.”
He said he was planning another trip that would include his family.
“This time I was in a bit of a hurry and as I left, my six-year-old Simon hugged him, said goodbye to Cecil and asked if he could come.
“It was actually very emotional and it feels like Cecil decided not to go this time because he wanted his family to go with him.”
If you want to see Cecil in action, the van will appear The Travel Show in January.
Follow BBC Cornwall X (formerly Twitter), Facebook And Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk.
