Some period photos of the Ford Anglia Van know as "Supervan".
The van was owned by the late Brian Nelson, owner of the "Monte Carlo" garage in Dublin and was used on two European trips.

The first trip, with co-driver Paddy McClintock, was in 1972 and went from Dublin to Moscow. Catching the boat to Helsinki they then drove into the Soviet Union from Leningrad to Moscow. On the return journey they passed through various other European Countries, from Kiev in the Ukraine, into Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia, Italy and France before finally sailing back to Ireland.
They visited 14 different Countries, drove over 12,000 miles and did it all in 26 days.

The second trip, this time with Co-Driver Gerry Mooney, was in 1973 and went from Dublin to Timbuktu. The trip was undertaken to raise money for Famine Relief. This time the route taken was down through Spain, across to Morocco and straight down to Timbuktu through the Sahara Desert and then back to Dublin.

The Ford Motor Company of Eire, Duckhams and Dunlop, all helped out by providing parts etc for the Van.

Brian's daughter Alice has made a short film called A Map with Gaps about her fathers two trips.