So the year is 1975... One man got an idea and a plan was born!...

It has been 40 years from the “Zastava 101 expedition: Kragujevac-Kilimanjaro”. The man who came up with the idea was dr Milan Rakočević. He was more into being the navigator in rallying than the actual driver. He came up with the idea while he was walking thru the deserts of Africa. When Zastava accepted the challenge the next thing to do was to find sponsors. The invite was immediately accepted by “Modriča”,” Tigar” and other smaller companies.

The expedition set off on 14th Feb 1975, on a 6 835 mile journey from Yugoslavia to Kilimanjaro. They needed to cross thru Nubian deserts, savannas and swamps.
The cars they used were of course Zastava 101s. There were 4 new Zastavas with decals without the rear bench and 1 brand new Zastava 101 in full factory glory - with a nickname “Salonac” (show quality).

None of the cars overheated no matter the heat and the intense driving on the sand. If the speed falls under 74 mph the car used to dig into the sand to floor level. Even with all the experience the drivers got it was a real challenge getting thru the Nubian desert.

The expedition was succesfuly ended by conquering the Kilimanjaro, Gilman’s point. All 5 Zastavas were boarded on a cargo ship in Tanzania and shipped to Athens, from where the drivers took them back to Kragujevac.

One of the cars was even displayed on the car faire in Belgrade of 1975. The whole crew was there too.

There were a few break downs but none of them compromised the expedition. Even the high temperatures weren’t a problem for the car, although the stereos almost melted.

Thanks for reading this interesting story. If I missed anything feel free to ask. :Đ

If anyone wants the full version of this in Serbian here’s the link