One woman’s solo journey around the world in a 1930 Hudson
Richard Lentinello on Aug 25th, 2015
While most 77-year old women are relaxing at home and ordering jewelry from QVC, Heidi Hetzer is circumnavigating the entire world in her 1930 Hudson – solo. Yes, she’s driving around the world in a car that was built 85 years ago. Now that’s chutzpah.
Heidi is a popular celebrity back in her home town of Berlin, Germany, where through the years she was a car dealer and rallye driver; she collects classic cars, too. Oh, and she drives them around the world as well.
“Hudo,” Heidi’s 1930 Hudson.
Her journey began back in July 2014 with a male co-pilot, but as they headed east through Eastern Europe, somewhere along the line he abandoned ship, yet she continued on her own. She drove all the way to China, then from there she headed to Southeast Asia, driving through Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. A boat then transported the car to Perth, Australia, which then allowed her to drive across the southern most part of the continent to Adelaide, then to Melbourne. Then the Hudson was shipped over to New Zealand, and after a thorough tour throughout the country it was shipped out of Auckland and up to Long Beach, California, earlier this summer.
Side trips in the United States thus far included a journey up to San Francisco, then back to Los Angeles, and over to Las Vegas. Heading north Heidi drove through Utah, Idaho, Oregon and up to Seattle before heading over to Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia. Then she made her way to Calgary, followed by Regina.
Hudo enters Manitoba.
Her current GPS location shows her heading east towards Winnipeg, in Canada’s Manitoba province. Soon Heidi will make her way down to Chicago, then across to New England, where her agenda includes a stop in Bennington, Vermont, to visit Hemmings on or about September 15. Plans then include a drive down to Florida before she heads West, then south through South America and all the way to Patagonia. From there a ship will take the car to South Africa, where she will begin the final leg of her big adventurer up through the entire continent of Africa before arriving back in Berlin sometime around June of 2016. Now that’s a true epic journey.
To learn more about Heidi’s around-the-world expedition in “Hudo”, her beloved 1930 Hudson, visit her website: Heidi-Around-The-World.com.
UPDATE (15.September 2015): Heidi suffered an accident while tending to an oil leak from Hudo’s engine. With the car on a lift and the engine running, Heidi was underneath wiping off excess oil with a rag. The rag, and with it her right hand, were pulled into the engine by the distributor shaft.
Heidi has lost two fingers (and broken a third), but her spirit remains undamaged. Just three days after her accident, she plans on hitting the road again today. With any luck, we’ll still see her at Hemmings world headquarters later this week, and we wish her a speedy recovery.
UPDATE (29.January 2016): On January 15, 2016, Heidi’s website (http://heidi-um-die-welt.com/) posted a somewhat cryptic message that a health issue had forced her return to Germany. Translated from German, the message read, “She feels fine, but is attacked by malicious rust and requires a cavity restoration. The rust has to go before it affects the whole body, otherwise there’s no new TÜV for the driver.”
Reading between the lines, we assume rust is a metaphor for cancer, and Heidi has returned to Germany for treatment. A later update advised that, while her doctors were not fond of the idea, Heidi intended to resume her trip after treatment, and plans to be back on the road again in a few weeks. We wish her a speedy recovery!
UPDATE (16.February 2016): Heidi has posted an update to her German language site, and the headline reads, “Attention South America, Heidi is coming back.” The world’s most intrepid 1930 Hudson driver has undergone two operations to remove a cancerous tumor and an adjacent lymph node, but has reportedly been proclaimed cancer-free and will be returning to South America to resume her journey on February 17.
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel sings 'Try to remember' especially for Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund at Vita Magica September
you can join
Betty MacDonald fan club
Betty MacDonald Society
Vita Magica
Eurovision Song Contest Fan Club
on Facebook
Vita Magica Betty MacDonald event with Wolfgang Hampel, Thomas Bödigheimer and Friedrich von Hoheneichen
Vita Magica
Betty MacDonald
Betty MacDonald fan club
Betty MacDonald fan club on Facebook
Betty MacDonald forum
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( Polski)
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - LinkFang ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - Academic ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - cyclopaedia.net ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - DBpedia ( English / German )
Wolfgang Hampel - people check ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Memim ( English )
Vashon Island - Wikipedia ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )
Wolfgang Hampel - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle - Wikipedia ( English)
Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel
Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD
Betty MacDonald fan club items
Betty MacDonald fan club items - comments
Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I
Betty MacDonald fan club groups
Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund
