Ice van's in Pole position

There's nothing prehistoric about this ice-age monster! It's a 4.5-tonne truck, engineered by mechanics in Iceland to attempt a record-breaking trip from the edge of the Antarctic to the South Pole. The converted Ford Econoline, powered by a 450bhp 7.3-litre V8 turbodiesel engine, is the first wheeled vehicle to attempt the trip.

Auto Express Car Reviews

31st August 2005

The explorers also hope to set the fastest time for the journey. And while there's no top speed available for the off-roader, expedition organiser Voyage Concepts estimates fuel returns of 11mpg on the 750-mile trip.

A team of six drivers, including a cameraman and one of the Icelandic technicians, hope to complete the journey in 40 hours. The six-wheel-drive truck's 44-inch tyres and 25 gears should help with that!

A spokeswoman for Voyage Concepts told us: "The team will have to negotiate deep crevasses, climb steep ice slopes and cross rugged fields of rubble ice to get to their goal of the South Pole. The plan is to achieve this in a record-breaking time - which means they will have to endure constant driving and no sleep throughout the attempt. It will push both man and machine to the limit." The trip takes place in December.