Words like "legend" and "epic" are often thrown around somewhat casually, as if they could ever really substitute for the more mundane "awesome" or "great" or even "noteworthy." But this is one case where the use of both is warranted.
World, meet Cecil.
Despite the rather stuffy name, there's nothing boring about Cecil, a 1972 Volkswagen Kombi with two claims for two world records: the most number of miles on the odometer and the most number of miles achieved without once being towed in for repairs.
If that's not enough to impress you, Cecil is more than a potential world record holder: Cecil has a heart of gold. It doesn't match the rusty exterior with post-apocalyptic vibes, but we all know that fame and glory, and appearances don't count. What's inside does – and Cecil could be the automotive equivalent of a living example of that.
Cecil is Steve Green's daily driver and the utility vehicle he uses to clean up plastics on the UK's coastline as part of his work with the non-profit Clean Ocean Sailing (COS). Green bought the van in 1998, when he was working as a mechanic in Australia, for the equivalent of £180 ($223 at the current exchange rate) after it'd been used as a shuttle between Canberra and Sydney airports.
Photo: Clean Ocean Sailing
Green was never the man not to jump at a good deal or a good challenge, and this van proved to be both in equal measure. Due to its original use, it was in a proper state. He spent the next six months fixing it and then the rest of his time in Australia driving it, with plans to sell it at a Sydney auction when the time came to return home to the UK.
You know what they say about God's reaction to man's plans; it also applies here. Whatever Green's plans were for Cecil, he had to change them when he realized he didn't want to leave the van behind. So he set to traveling the world with it before finally coming back to the UK.
Since the start of the Clean Ocean Sailing non-profit in 2017, Cecil has been working hard to remove plastic waste and ghost gear (discarded fishing gear) from local beaches, transporting it to a recycling plant in Exeter with help from a homemade crane and winch.
Photo: Clean Ocean Sailing
Cecil no longer runs on gasoline, because Green replaced the engine as soon as he got back home. Today, the van runs on diesel made from waste chip fat oil collected from locals pubs and cafes. The conversion made sense, since Cecil is the only engine-powered vehicle used in COS recovery operations, and they had to make sure that its carbon footprint was minimal.
Cecil is also nearing 1 million miles (1,609,344 km) on the odo. The clock currently reads 900,000 miles (1,375,630 km), but Green is convinced the 1 million-mile threshold is a sure bet.
In the meantime, he's also been doing some digging around to see if there are other vans with similar numbers. He hasn't found any, so he believes this would make Cecil the van with the most miles on the odo – which, to boot, has never been towed in for repairs.
Photo: Clean Ocean Sailing
That's not to say that Cecil has never broken down. Far from that, actually. The explanation is very simple: this van itself is very simple, which means it can easily be fixed on the road, if you know your way around the engine. As Green explains in a recent interview, you can only own and drive a '72 van like Cecil if you're a DIYer, so whenever something breaks down, you know just where to look and how to fix it to get back on the road.
"It's a two-way relationship," he explains. "The number of hours fixing Cecil and the number of hours driving him are probably similar. He's definitely an expression of my optimism."
Green is convinced that Cecil can stay on the road for another 50 years without a problem. In its work with COS, Cecil often pairs with Annette, a 66-foot (20-meter) 1908 gaff rigged schooner with a volume of 55 GT and an 8-person sleeping capacity. If Annette can still boast incredible seaworthiness after 100 years of service, so could Cecil, with the right amount of TLC, Green says.
Photo: Clean Ocean Sailing
A spokesperson for Volkswagen agrees, though he insists that the claim for the world record is probably not justified because there are other campervans with similar recorded mileage. That doesn't take away from Cecil's merits, the spokesperson says: Cecil is "a little bit Mad Max," but in a way that makes it a proper legend. "It's not just for joy rides on the weekend, it's for business to save the planet," says the VW rep.
Cecil might be old and wiser beyond its many hard-working years, but it's keeping up with the youths today, with plenty of activity on social media.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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