In 1974, three Austrians set out on a 15,000 kilometre journey, a great part of which traversed the Sahara desert. Rather than opting for a special-purpose vehicle, they chose a Mercedes-Benz L 206 D/24 van as their "ship of the desert".

Fortunately, although the trio had no shortage of adventures during the trip, including encounters with the legendary Tuareg people, whose menfolk not the women wear a veil, problems with the van were not among them. The Mercedes provided faithful, breakdown-free service throughout the long desert journey.