Why a family chose to drive an 89-year-old car around the world

It’s hard to imagine anything more impressive than a couple raising four children while travelling around the world for 17 years.

But Herman Zapp, and his wife Candelaria, found a way.

READ MORE: Couple globetrotting for 17 years heading home with 4 kids as souvenirs

They didn’t go touring the globe in a motor home or a luxury SUV.

Nope, they went in a vintage car that was built shortly after the end of the first World War.

The adventure began when a friend of Herman’s thought he’d be interested in seeing the nearly 90-year-old sedan.

“I went because I’m curious,” Herman says. “When I went I fell in love.”

READ MORE: Top 17 travel destinations to visit in 2017

Despite only hitting a top speed of 55 km/h, he knew it was the perfect automobile to take him and Candelaria on the trip of a lifetime.

“Every time I follow my heart, I’m in the right place,” Herman says, calling the encounter fate.

READ MORE: Staycation, sustainable tourism among top travels trends for 2017

Herman believes the simplistic nature of the car’s engineering has helped his family’s journey last as long as it has – something that may not have happened with a newer vehicle.

“My Grandpa told me, ‘if you want to get far, you have to go slow. If you want to succeed it has to be something simple. And if you want to do something it should be with style,’ and this car fits those three things perfectly.”

The car has undergone many repairs along the way, but Herman believes the vehicle has only added to the incredible journey he’s taken with his family.

“You take a picture of this car in the migration of animals in Africa and it looks so good,” he says. “You go to Fifth Avenue and you take a picture and it looks so good. Everywhere the picture looks like a match.”

alex.maveal@globalnews.ca
Follow @AlexMaveal