German Man Drives Mercedes G-Wagen on 896k-km, 26-Year Road Trip

The vast of majority of us just fantasize about it, but it's a reality for the German couple Gunther and Christine Holtorf. They are just finishing what might be the world's longest road trip covering around 900,000 km in a Mercedes-Benz 300GD named Otto (pictured above right) over the past 26 years.

Their goal was to visit as many countries as possible, and they ended up reached 215, including places like base camp at Mount Everest; they definitely achieved their dream. The same distance would have gotten them from the Earth to the moon and back, plus a few thousand extra miles to just cruise around.

Holtorf claims that Otto remained mostly stock for the odyssey. "The entire drivetrain with the engine, transmission and axles is still original," he said. However, some upgraded suspension parts were installed to handle the extra load from all the supplies the couple needed to carry.

Otto isn't retiring quite yet, but the hard part is over. The 300GD is going on display briefly at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart and then taking a tour of the company's dealers in Europe beginning in February 2015.

Coinciding with the latest stop in Otto's voyage, the G-Class is celebrating its 35th anniversary. To commemorate it in Europe, Mercedes is launching the Edition 35 version (pictured above left) of the long-living truck. It gets obsidian black metallic parts for the bumpers, wheels arches, side mirrors and roof and a similar motif for the interior, as well. "I promise that there will still be a G-Class in the future," said Daimler chairman Dr. Dieter Zetsche in the company's announcement.

There's a full chronicle of the trip with many videos, but it's in German. The BBC also has an excellent long-form piece about the couple in English.