Road fever : a high-speed travelogue

by Cahill, Tim

  Garry Sowerby "grew up with this story about how one time my dad was working in Amherst and these guys came at him and he decked three of them on Main Street. I don't know if the story got stretched or not, but the word around Amherst was, 'Don't screw with glaziers from Moncton.' " That's what travel was about: strange exotic people to meet, new friends, and a hint of danger. "Now that I think about it," Garry said, "those runs down the windy twisting road to Amherst in my dad's fifty-three Mercury two-ton glass truck were my first road trips."

  Garry's mother worked at a department store in Moncton, "which was great for Christmas because she would do all the shopping on Christmas Eve, after the store closed and the prices on everything dropped to rock bottom." Garry and his brothers always had nice gifts.

  And now Garry was driving past Amherst to Halifax, to borrow money so that he could provide proper gifts for his own family on his way to setting a world record.

  An officer at Sowerby's Halifax bank. Sue Bain, understood his operation and considered him a bona fide and secure investment. With the GMC contract in hand—the automaker owed him a $42,000 retainer—Sowerby negotiated a loan for $25,000, Canadian.

  It was enough to send out his proposals, take care of Christmas, buy tickets to Peru and Bolivia, fly to London to confer with the Guinness Book people, and still have a bit left over to fly to New York or Chicago or Los Angeles in case someone liked his proposal. It was tight but not impossible.

  Less than a month later, January 10, 1987, Sowerby needed another $20,000, and he flew to Detroit to talk with GMC. He had accounting fees of $5,000, insurance premiums to pay, legal fees, telephone bills, telex fees, and he wanted me to accompany him to South America to research the roads, the border formalities, and the security situation. Airline tickets, once again, were a major expense.

  In his money-raising capacity, Garry has no illusions. He considers himself an honest "huckster." A "dream merchant."

  January 13, in Detroit, Michigan, according to Garry's notes, had been a good day:

  "Ten-forty-two. Just left Ron Royer's office. He works for the General Motors Overseas Development Corporation and for the International Export Division. What a great guy. Ron was involved in the last project, Africa-to-the-Arctic, and he met us in northern Finland and rode to the finish line with us. He's about six three, Midwestern boy, talks about 'bidness' instead of business. Got a big flat-topped wooden desk about the size of a football field. Off in the corner there's a big floor-standing globe of the world with a light inside it, so the thing's glowing ofFin the corner. Pictures of the granddaughters, the daughter on a credenza.

  "Ron can't get involved in this because his end is marketing North American vehicles built overseas. In South America, they do a lot of the actual assembly themselves. But he said he'd hook me up with some contacts.

  "So he's going to call the people who handle Central American sales and service who can help us with contacts. Mexico is handled by Canada Chevrolet-Pontiac Division and that can be sorted out through John Rock's group.

  "We went to see Al Buchanan, who is the vice president of General

  Motors Overseas, and basically what Al can do, he can provide service and contacts in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. Al's office was more in the couch-coffee table mode. Some jazz playing on the radio and a perfectly clean desktop. Al travels a lot in South America and his suggestion was to go the west coast all the way. Forget the Amazon. Too many question marks."

  Garry's notes became a rhapsody. "I'm in a great mood about all this. I've got the support of John Rock, the guys that doubted me at GMC have fallen into line, and I walk into this vice president's office on a two-minute lead time and he's already keen on the idea. If I were trying to plug into GM on my own, well, it just wouldn't happen."

  On the same day, Garry met with GM advertising. "I told them we weren't looking for an end on their stuff. No money for testimonials, no payment for using my image. Oh, Tim, I told them you didn't want to be involved in the advertising in any way. So for giving up any possible money on the back end, they approved another twenty thousand dollars for the recces. It will pay for our trips to Central and South America."

  Later the same day, Sowerby drove to the Detroit St. Regis hotel and met with Joe Boissonneault, from Stanadyne, a company that makes diesel fuel pumps and had recently introduced a new diesel fuel additive. "Joe's a good guy and we're friends. Stanadyne sponsored the ALCAN 5000. I asked for thirty thousand dollars up front and he gave me fifteen thousand. Said the appearances and advertising royalties after it's over should come to maybe ten thousand. Joe said, 'Don't plan on retiring on this.' I thought that too, but it's just another building block. He wants to push the new fuel additive."

  That evening—"Oh man. Come to America. Drive around Detroit. Score thirty-five thousand dollars American, fifty thousand Canadian. Got the bank paid off. I can tell Jane, it's okay, go ahead and have the baby anytime. Yeah."

  Garry's made some notes on follow-up:

  "Get a letter of agreement off to Stanadyne re sponsorship.

  "Letter to Al Buchanan, recap our talk.

  "Letter to Ron Royer, thanks.

  "Letter to Alan Russell at Guinness, recap parameters.

  "Talk to Art Christy tomorrow, Pontiac."

  Christy was a retired executive at Detroit Diesel, "a bit of a godfather of all these projects," Sowerby explained. "He first introduced me to John Rock. I think he can help me figure out how to approach Detroit Diesel." Over breakfast, Christy told Garry that $25,000 from Detroit

  Diesel might be possible. Sowerby left that meeting and flew to Toronto. He made some notes on the plane:

  "Letter to Detroit Diesel with a modified proposal about getting involved for twenty-five thousand dollars.

  "Letter to Bruce Goodsite, retired director of public relations for Detroit Diesel, help on the above."

  In Toronto Sowerby met with GM Canada and a group called CanExpo that ships vehicle components off to different factories all over the world, including South America. Later he stopped to see his friend Finlay McDonald, who had taken some of the videotape that was shot on the Africa-Arctic run and pieced together a credible half-hour adventure film. The ambush wasn't on film but the audiotape had been running, and you could hear Eddy Grant singing, and then there were a few isolated pops, followed by automatic-weapons fire and shouting soldiers. Garry sometimes showed the video to prospective sponsors. It caught their attention.

  Finlay McDonald introduced Garry to a man who hosted a Toronto business show called Venture. Sure, Garry said, he would love to do an interview, talk about his sponsors.

  February 19: "I'm in suite 302 in the Delta Hotel in Ottawa. Jane's with me and she's been on the phone for the last few days, calling all the foreign embassies in Canada trying to figure out what I need to go on the recces: visas and the like. I've been trying to get the government in gear in terms of giving me some letters of introduction from the prime minister, secretary of state, and from the minister of sport. My meeting yesterday with Senator Finlay McDonald certainly got things rolling."

  On previous trips, Sowerby had dealt with other government officials, but Senator McDonald was the father of Garry's friend Finlay McDonald, who made the video Garry uses to sell his proposal. It all fit together.

  "Finlay's got an office in the east block of the Parliament buildings," Sowerby said. "It's a couple of hundred years old and very pleasant: muted yellow walls, high ceilings. The senator himself is a bit of a character and moved very fast. I sent him a letter last week. I went to meet him and he started dictating letters to his executive assistant to get things in gear. Basically I want to be able to meet with high-level diplomats in South and Central America. I want them to be informed that I'm coming. I'd like them to get that information from the ministerial level. I want to get a letter translated into Spanish on a ministerial

  letterhead. You never know when you can use a letter like that to impress some bureaucrat, especially
if Canada is helping to fund a dam project or build a school down there."

  Later the same day, Sowerby met with Janet Connor, an old friend of his who is an assistant to the minister of sport, and they talked about a letter of introduction from that ministry.

  Sowerby and I had agreed early on that it would be best if the expedition was perceived as a Canadian effort. The United States has an unfortunate history south of the border and Latins have long memories. There were entirely understandable antagonisms. Canadians, on the other hand, had never invaded any nation south of the United States and were, predictably, considered simpatico.

  Late on the evening of March 3, Garry sat in his office and read off the contents of his "In" basket:

  "I've got a spare-parts list and a service plan. Instead of having a service depot of spare parts and engine assemblies and transmission assemblies, which we did in Saudi Arabia, what we do is develop a good communications system and know exactly where the parts come from. Clutch parts, water pump, fuel injector, lines, glow plug controller, about twenty-five more essentials.

  "Under the service plan is a newspaper headline: killings continue IN GUATEMALA.

  "A letter to Senator Finlay McDonald thanking him for his help.

  "The addresses and numbers of two contacts at the Department of External Affairs.

  "The plan for the first recce that I did in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia.

  "The plan for the second recce we've got to do in Argentina and Chile next month.

  "Under that is a copy of the contact letters I sent to all the South and Central American contacts: the Canadian embassies, the auto associations, and the GM people. It's about fifteen pages, got a couple of maps.

  "Next is a list of things I have to do to get the baby's room together. Getting some heavy pressure on that. Jane's just about due and I recognize this phase from the last time: pregnant women seem to develop a very intense nesting instinct.

  "She's in Halifax for a checkup. Lucy's with her. While she's been gone, I've managed to get the floors done anyway. Verathane."

  Garry was sitting home, alone in the basement pit, talking into his tape recorder. "The house smells a bit. I don't know: last summer we

  talked about getting pregnant and we both wanted to do it. But this spring is madness. Jane having babies in the middle of all these recces. We've both got to be strong. Can't stop the baby. Imagine being born between Dad's two recces to South America.

  "Let's see: under that I've got my corporate year-end report.

  "Under that is a list of lists: stuff for the house, media contacts, GMC contacts, associate sponsors . . .

  "What else?

  "A bill for the copy machine.

  "A note to myself to work up a contract for Canadian Tire. They've come on as a sponsor. Motomaster tires. I love that name. Motomaster. I figured I'd just copy the legalese off the Firestone contract for Africa to Arctic. Save some legal fees on that.

  "Under that note is a list of things for Cars and Concepts, the company that will be putting the camper shell on the truck. We need driving lights, a tach, plug outlets for tape recorders, and stuff." Sow-erby did not believe in modification, "after-market" changes to the basic truck. The vehicle had been tested, but modifications were always someone's best guess. Besides, driving a stock vehicle right off the assembly line somehow seemed more honest. Part of the dream. Buy one of these vehicles and there is no road in all the Americas that you can't drive. "The only thing we'll do to the basic vehicle," Garry noted, "is beef up the shocks. I want to see if we can get Delco involved in that. Also I'd like to upgrade the sound system."

  Under the Delco notes, Sowerby found some of Lucy's artwork and he began telling a story about it. "She comes down here to play at night sometimes when I'm waiting for calls. The other day she was coloring. She's got her tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth. So she gives me this flower she colored, and I put it through the copier. My plan was to put the original on the refrigerator, keep the copy for my office. The copy comes out of the machine and I thought Lucy would be thrilled. And she started to cry. She thought the machine had sucked all the color out of her picture."

  It wasn't difficult to begin reading a mood into the transcript. It was late at night, Sowerby was alone in his house, thinking about his wife and child, but there was something else bothering him.

  "I don't know if I can talk about this now, but I met with Kenny last night. And it was sad. I knew he wanted to get on with his life, but I didn't know how he felt. He looked at me . . . like he wanted this. It was like a divorce. We had been separated, and now we were getting a

  divorce. Yesterday we signed the papers. He gave me a little over two thirds of his shares, and I think it was fair.

  "But it was Kenny, man. We had a dream together and we made it work. He was there. He was always there. You think about those times. Getting shot at: we went through that together. You could depend on Kenny. Just stupid things: the first drive, we're in India, the steering wheel is on the wrong side, just like Kenya, and Kenny is leaning out his window telling me when I can pass. I trust him, he trusts me, and our lives were at stake on his judgment and my driving. We trust each other with our lives.

  "Or—you know how you get silly after a long time, laugh at stuff that isn't really very funny?—In India Kenny and I notice that Indian men stand on the street with their hands over their privates. And we spent a long time trying to figure out why. Were they advertising? Or was it a defensive thing? Was it a way of constantly telling themselves, yep, I'm a man all right. And we talked about this for hours, different anthropological and psychological theories. And we couldn't figure it out. Now, I'm not proud of this, really. I know it's wrong. I know these guys standing on the corner grew up in a different culture and it's not for me to judge. We're just silly, Kenny and I. Goofy. And he leans out the window as we're going around the corner, he screams, 'Get your hand off your dick!'

  "And the guy waved at us. With the other hand.

  "I suppose it's not funny in the telling, but we had tears in our eyes from laughing. Couldn't stop.

  "And once we were in a plane on our way from Pakistan to Athens with the Volvo. Cargo plane. We were over the coast of Iran. It was the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war and there were oil refineries burning below. Kenny said he was having some trouble. We were badly fatigued and he couldn't sleep. He said, 'It's like a hallucination.' He was seeing something he didn't want to see, like something that was going to happen in the very near future. And finally he told me that he had a very clear vision of himself popping the emergency exit and jumping. 'I have to be restrained,' Kenny said. So I told the captain and we looked around and found some rope, and that's the way Kenny went to Athens, tied to the fuselage."

  The transcript ended there, on that bittersweet note.

  Few people who know Sowerby, I thought, understand how hard he works. I suspect Jane is right: Sowerby is a workaholic. He spends sixteen hours at a crack shuffling between the pit and the bunker, or

  he's on the road, traveling to Detroit or Toronto or Los Angeles to make deals. His parents shrug off his life-style: he's thirty-seven years old, he keeps his family fed, and he's not hurting anyone. They refer to him, affectionately, as the orangutan. Jane's parents are supportive, though her father, a prominent physician, isn't sure why Garry doesn't simply go into some legitimate business. With his capacity for work, persuasive personality, organizational talent, and drive for success, he could be a very wealthy man in a very short time. Work in a real office with fluorescent lights.

  After Kenny bowed on the Pan-American run, Garry made some notes about what keeps him in the adventure-driving business.

  "I never set out to become an adventurer. The money we owed after the around-the-world trip forced us to do the Africa-Arctic trip, and by the time that was done I was hooked. I like taking a concept that involves travel and making it a personal, political, and technical challenge. The job involves conceptualizing, planning,
financing, public relations, writing, and lots of wheeling and dealing. I like the fact that I can move through different elements of the job, which keeps the boredom factor at a low level.

  "The glossy image is a nice bit of frosting on the cake. I think the reaction I get from people thrills me more than the fact that I am the guy that's done it. And dealing with the unusual, sometimes in stressful situations, has forced me to be more capable, to manage things more responsibly. This carries over from my business to my family."

  We were in the pit from eight that morning until seven-thirty that night. Garry did a phone interview for CBC radio. He assembled another package to be sent south to Canadian embassies, to the auto clubs, GMC dealers, and other contacts in Latin America. "Let them know we're coming in a couple of months," Garry said.

  The day before, Garry had registered the truck, which had been built in Canada's new GM plant. It had New Brunswick plates that read: b4 neI. "That was Janet's idea," Garry said. Janet Shorten had been working for Sowerby as an aide-de-camp. Garry had wanted a personalized plate, "but I didn't want it to be a word, like 'further' or something. I thought the plate ought to have numbers and letters. Prevents confusion at the borders that way."

  In the time that it took me to read over the transcripts, Sowerby also arranged for a kind of loan, a $75,000 letter of credit from GMC in Pontiac, Michigan, to cover the Carnet de Passage, a document required to take a vehicle across borders in South America. (Central

  American countries do not operate on the carnet system.) "The carnet itself is one of the largest obstacles for a novice endurance driver," Sowerby said. "When you tell people that in order to get a carnet you need to submit a letter of credit to your national automobile association for three hundred percent of the value of the vehicle, they think about it."