Devon to Africa three-wheeler record attempt paused

Two men aiming to break a Guinness World Record – by being the first to travel from Devon to Cape Town in a three-wheeled car – hope to continue their travels after a blown engine ground their journey to a halt.

Oliver Jenks, 34, of Newton Abbot, Devon, and Seth Scott, 31, from Canada, set off from London on 24 October in their Reliant Robin called “Sheila the three-wheeler”.

Speaking from Cameroon in central Africa, Jenks said: “There was a big knocking come from the engine. As we were on our way to the Congo [the engine] then exploded and nearly took off my leg.”

Jenks thought the 10,000-mile (about 16,000km) journey had come to an end but said a replacement engine was being sent from Exeter.

The pair are raising money for Yeovil-based charity School in a Bag.

Speaking to Caroline Densley on BBC Radio Devon, Jenks said the incident had left “a gaping hole” in the side of the engine.

“[It was] literally like somebody had shot it,” he added.

“We both knew it was over from there, really. We instantly accepted defeat.”

Jenks said he and Scott were rescued by a group of people who picked them up in the back of a cattle truck.

“Getting the car in the back was very difficult indeed, it was absolutely crazy,” he added.

Jenks continued: “We had to take the doors off the back of the truck for Sheila to go up.

“We ended up being in the back of that truck for nine hours.”

He said police stopped the cattle truck several times, and added “they were very confused with two men on the back of a cattle truck in a three-wheeled car”.

“We had to explain ourselves six times in the middle of the night. Like, ‘no we’re not being taken hostage, they’re just taking us back to the capital’,” he said.

Jenks said the pair had managed to crowdfund money to pay for a new engine, which should arrive on Wednesday.