Who are the Terranauts?

DUSTY SPRINGS
Born at the Mercedes Benz factory in Stuttgart, Germany in 1980, Dusty served at the Greek Embassy in Bonn before traveling to Geneva in the hands of a lady owner. Dusty cruised through the easy living edelweiss years, but incidious alpine winters started eating at her bodywork. Stolen in 1990, Dusty vanished for a few years before resurfacing at a car auction in Margate, England in 1995 where she was bought by the Great Nikodemus, a children’s entertainer. After Niko passed in a tragic balloon animal accident, Dusty was garaged and eventually auctioned for scrap on eBay. Rescued from an ignominious end by a Benz enthusiast from Bournemouth, cosmic strands passed Dusty into the hands of the Terranauts in October 2005. With severe rust, sagging suspension, a cracked radiator and just 300,000 kilometers on the clock, Dusty is in tip-top condition for the Plymouth-Banjul Challenge.

EMILY HORGAN
Emily is a veteran of the 2005 Plymouth-Banjul Challenge when her team, The Spandanglo Meteors, ripped the undercarriage off a 1991 Ford Fiesta and limped into Banjul with steam pouring from the engine. After learning last year that a radiator isn’t just a large iron fitting in your living room, Emily has bought an advanced mechanic's manual on Mercedes Benz reconditioning for this trip.

JIMMY WARNER
Like most native New Yorkers, Jimmy learned to drive at age 25. After three years’ experience in an unticketable NYC Parks Department pickup, and two more in a seatbelt-free Beetle dodging chicken buses in Guatemala, Jimmy is well prepped to guide Dusty across the Sahara.