"You're Crazy!": The Family Who Rode a Three-Wheeled Scooter from Sydney to Paris with Two Toddlers (36 photos)

In 1956, Frenchman Guy Montin packed his wife and two toddlers into a homemade wooden cabin mounted on the back of a three-wheeled scooter. Their goal was audacious: ride all the way from Sydney to Paris. The three-wheeler could barely hit 40 km/h. Ahead lay the unforgiving Australian Outback, torrential Indian monsoons, Iranian deserts, and Turkish snowdrifts. In every country they crossed, locals insisted they had lost their minds. Here is the full story of their epic overland adventure—from crashing in the Australian bush to camping out in the heart of the Bois de Boulogne.





The Montin family were living in Sydney. Guy was French, while his wife Beryl hailed from the seaside town of Margate in southeast England. Their son Charles was four, and daughter Yvonne was just two. One day, the couple made a bold decision: they would travel to Europe on their own steam—not by passenger car or plane, but on a motor scooter.

The "Deluxe Put-Put"

Guy chose a rather unusual vehicle for an intercontinental trek: an Italian Lambretta FD 150 commercial three-wheeler. The factory dubbed it the *Furgoncino*, or "little van." The driver sat up front on a scooter saddle, while the back featured an open cargo bed. These machines were typically used by local shopkeepers and tradesmen to haul deliveries around town.



The three-wheeled Lambretta was engineered for light city deliveries, not a trek across half the planet





Guy built the cabin himself: a marine-plywood frame wrapped in weather-treated canvas

Guy built a custom camper cabin onto the cargo bed using marine plywood and heavy canvas. Inside, there was just enough room for four passengers and all their worldly possessions. At night, the cabin turned into a sleeping berth. Beryl affectionately dubbed the contraption "the gadget," while Guy went with a grander title: the "Deluxe Put-Put" (or *Le PutPut avec Grand Confort* in French).



By day, the cabin served as a passenger cabin and trunk; by night, a bedroom for four



For two young toddlers, this cramped wooden box became home for months on end

Of course, "comfort" was purely relative. The 150cc engine could only push the fully loaded trike to a top speed of 40 km/h (25 mph). But the family proudly emblazoned their destination across the side in bold lettering: "Sydney – Paris."



The bold "Sydney – Paris" sign made their mission unmistakable in any language



A painted route map tracked their progress, while souvenir decals marked each border crossed

Over time, the side of the scooter was covered in souvenir decals, resembling a well-traveled suitcase. Right next to them, Guy mounted a map of their itinerary, so curious onlookers could tell at a glance where these daring travelers had come from and where they were headed.

A Pothole, Cold Beer, and Rabbit Hunters

The first leg of the journey took them across the Australian continent, from Sydney to Perth. That meant covering nearly 4,000 kilometers—roughly 2,500 of which cut straight through desolate desert. Outback roads were practically nonexistent back then: little more than red dirt, blinding dust, and the occasional remote outpost.



The trek across Australia was nearly 4,000 km, with about 2,500 km through harsh desert

It was out there that the family suffered their only major road accident. A local road maintenance crew offered Guy a cold beer to beat the heat. Shortly after, Guy failed to spot a massive trench that the very same crew had dug across the road, and the Lambretta plunged straight in. Miraculously, no one was injured. However, the rear suspension was badly bent, and both wheels were damaged.



Guy handled every repair himself, with the children watching and pitching in



Roadside breakdowns quickly became second nature to the family

A group of local rabbit hunters helped winch the machine out of the trench. Getting replacement parts meant a long wait: the Lambretta factory had to ship an entire new rear suspension straight from Italy to Australia. In the end, the family made it to Perth, and on March 12, 1956, the Montins boarded the passenger liner SS *Oronsay* with their little three-wheeler tucked on deck.



Following the crash, factory-fresh suspension parts had to be shipped directly from Italy

Guy later admitted that back in Sydney, nobody believed they would even make it as far as Perth. Those skeptics were merely the first on a very long list; as the journey progressed, the naysayers only multiplied.

Ceylon, Bombay, and the Gateway of India

The liner carried the family to Colombo, the capital of Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was then known). The Montins spent about a month exploring the island before boarding another steamer bound for Bombay (now Mumbai).



Across the Indian Ocean, the faithful trike rode on the open deck alongside its owners

Bombay marked the start of the expedition's main overland push. The family stopped for a photograph at the Gateway of India, the monumental waterfront arch erected to commemorate the visit of King George V and completed in 1924.



The three-wheeled camper drew curious crowds wherever it pulled up

Guy had spent weeks studying regional weather patterns, planning their route to slip right between seasonal downpours. He had budgeted six weeks to cross India. Those best-laid plans, however, were about to wash away.

Four Months Stranded by the Monsoons

The monsoon rains caught up with them in full force. Dirt roads turned into impassable torrents of mud, making further travel impossible. As a result, the family found themselves stranded in India for more than four months.



Across India, the travelers were welcomed with boundless curiosity and genuine hospitality



Local families helped the travelers weather the torrential rains by opening their homes

Local villagers came to their rescue, providing the Montins with shelter and sharing their food. Guy would later reflect that their long delays were rarely caused by mechanical failure: "It's the people who won't let us leave," he remarked, touched by their generosity.



The six weeks Guy originally budgeted for India stretched into four long months



The Montins lived largely on fresh fruit and wholesome vegetarian fare

A local newspaper even ran a feature on the eccentric travelers. The journalists concluded that the foreigners looked in such radiant health thanks to two wholesome habits: daily dips in the Ganges and a strict vegetarian diet.



For Charles and Yvonne, life on the road became both nursery school and playground



While their parents waited out the torrential rains, the toddlers played beside the cabin



A roadside picnic on the grass: another ordinary day on an extraordinary journey

Meanwhile, the toddlers took to the nomadic lifestyle with ease. While their parents waited for the skies to clear, Charles and Yvonne played happily on the grass around the little wooden box that had become their home on wheels.

"You're Out of Your Minds!"

When the rains finally relented, the Montins pressed on into Pakistan. At every border and outpost, they heard the exact same refrain. In Colombo, locals had sworn they would never make it through the monsoons to Lahore. In Lahore, people insisted reaching Quetta was impossible. And in Quetta, onlookers declared them completely insane for attempting to cross Persia, as Iran was then still widely known.



In Quetta, locals pleaded with the family not to venture into the harsh Persian deserts



At a crawling 40 km/h, the desert crossing dragged on for weeks

The skeptics were not entirely mistaken. The stretch from Quetta to Mashhad in eastern Iran spanned nearly 3,000 kilometers of desolate desert wasteland, taking several grueling weeks to navigate. Throughout that entire leg, the family survived almost entirely on dried goat's cheese and fresh fruit.



Between Quetta and Mashhad, the family survived mainly on dried goat's cheese and fruit



Beryl later described the 3,000-km desert stretch as the most grueling ordeal of the trip

Beryl would later remember this leg as the most challenging part of the whole journey. She had not enjoyed a proper hot bath since leaving Sydney, and the relentless heat, sand, and grime were taking a heavy toll on her spirits.



Beryl did not have access to a single hot bath all the way from Sydney to Persia



Dust, blistering heat, and cramped quarters—yet the family stayed together and soldiered on

Persia, however, offered a much-deserved reward: for the first time in many months, the entire family was finally able to soak and scrub down in hot water.

"And Yet It Moves!"

From Tehran, Guy penned a letter to the Lambretta factory, opening with Galileo's famous Italian phrase: *Eppur si muove* ("And yet it moves"). Only Guy was not talking about planet Earth, but his plucky little three-wheeler: against all odds, she was still rolling!



A road sign to Tabriz: the most punishing miles of Asia were finally in the rearview mirror

"The worst is behind us. We now know for certain: a family of four can eat, sleep, and cover 15,000 kilometers in a Lambretta van. We are not crazy. On the contrary, all four of us are in magnificent shape—both mentally and physically. You will see."

Guy was also keen to emphasize another detail: taking more than six months to cross this vast expanse was not due to mechanical breakdowns. It was the overwhelming warmth of the locals, who simply refused to let their guests leave. He went on to describe a typical morning on the road:

"The engine purrs like a cheetah in the crisp morning air. The children are fed, dressed, and have used the potty. Mum has just found Dad's missing glasses. We are ready for today's 300 kilometers…"



On a smooth day, the little machine could cover roughly 300 kilometers



Wherever the Montins pulled over, a crowd of locals quickly gathered

The most brutal part of the expedition was behind them, with the Middle East and Europe ahead. Even so, the final stretch was far from a leisurely cruise.

Through the Snow and into Europe

From Iran, their route wound through Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon before crossing into Turkey. Next came Greece, Yugoslavia, and Italy—the birthplace of their faithful little trike.



Mountain passes tested the small engine, but the trike stubbornly crawled upward



The Turkish border: Asia left behind, Europe straight ahead

In Turkey, the travelers were blindsided by harsh winter conditions. In places, snowdrifts piled over three feet high, forcing Guy to get out and push the heavily laden trike up icy mountain passes.



After the scorching heat of Asia, the family plunged headfirst into a brutal winter



Whenever the engine couldn't manage the climb, Guy got out and pushed

The weather was not their only ordeal. The entire family battled a debilitating bout of dysentery. The engine alternated between overheating and stalling out from contaminated fuel, and flat tires were a near-daily nuisance.



Every new road sign brought the family one step closer to France



Under historic arches across Europe, the family posed with pride

Yet through it all, the machine refused to surrender. Guy patched it up on the roadside time and again, and the trusty little rig rattled back to life. Mile by mile, kilometer by kilometer, the family finally crossed the border into France.

Camping in the Bois de Boulogne

At long last, the Montins rolled into Paris. They spent their first night in the French capital sleeping in their wooden camper right in the Bois de Boulogne, the vast woodland park on the city's western edge. Behind them lay 11 countries and roughly 20,000 kilometers (over 12,000 miles) of open road.

The family also tallied up their total expenses: the entire expedition had cost just £350. Of that, £80 went to petrol, £200 for food, and another £5 on warm goatskin jackets and gloves. The remainder covered roadside repairs, visa fees, and ferry tickets.



The entire overland journey across 11 nations cost the family just £350

After catching their breath, Guy visited his relatives in the town of Cahors in southwestern France, while Beryl received a hero's welcome back in her hometown of Margate. The British newspaper *Sunday Express* ran a feature on her entitled: "One Lipstick for Halfway Round the World."

Few written records of the epic trip survive today. Guy kept a journal, but strictly as a personal keepsake. What remains comes from newspaper clippings published along their route and cherished family snapshots.

When the family crossed half the globe in a plywood camper, Charles was four and Yvonne was just two. The children likely remembered very little of the day-to-day grit. But the family walked away with an extraordinary story that no conventional package tour could ever match.

Would you ever dare embark on an overland journey like this with two toddlers in tow?