Mike Horn

ADVENTURER & MERCEDES-BENZ BRAND AMBASSADOR

- David Ting

IN motorsport parlance, “pole position” is the best spot at the start of a race. For 51-year-old Mike Horn, “Pole2Pole” is his personal best spot in an exploratory journey between the South Pole and North Pole of Mother Earth.

He covered over 33,000 kilometres round the world in the past two years, from Europe to Africa, Antarctica, Oceania, Asia, the Arctic, North America and finally back to Europe – alternating between boat, skis, kayak and car, depending on the location and situation.

The car needed to be tough enough to tackle the relevant overland legs of the epic expedition. Naturally, it’s a rugged 4x4 off-roader, but it’s neither a Land Rover nor a Land Cruiser. It’s a Mercedes-Benz G-Class, the German “wagen” that’s always on standby to help global explorers heading off the beaten track. Extremely far off the beaten track, in the case of Mike Horn and his “Pole2Pole” circumnavigation to share unique insights into the natural and cultural wonders of rarely explored regions.

We chatted with the adventurer when he stopped over in Singapore (last November) with his sailboat Pangaea, en route to India.

Why the G-Class and not another Mercedes- Benz off-roader?