Man buys Mini Jeep from used car dealer and attempts to drive it 1,000 miles off-road across Utah

In what is being compared to a Top Gear special, this man bought a Mini Jeep for just $4,000 and attempted a colossal 1,000-mile off-road journey through Utah.

The Mini Jeep is really meant for parks and playgrounds.

Not the brutal landscape of the Utah deserts.

But this man has attempted the unthinkable, and the journey is truly phenomenal.

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Utah man drives Mini Jeep 1,000 miles off-road through the state

The off-road tracks in Utah are notoriously difficult. Not even the most bullish Chevy Silverado can handle them and need towing out.

But Ed March, the creator of the c90adventures YouTube channel, has decided to take a Mini Jeep – yes that car that very rich toddlers get for Christmas – and drive it 1,000 miles off-road through Utah.

The trip was planned to take Ed from the north of Salt Lake City around the lake and down to a town called Moab, southern Utah.

So with a whopping 8HP in his used Jeep, bought for just $3,995, was this even possible, or doomed to fail?

Well, there was more than one obstacle to overcome, and the first was fuel. Ed only had enough fuel in his tank for roughly 30 miles, and deep into the barren wasteland of Utah, he needed much more to travel from one petrol station to the next.

So, He strapped a five-gallon bottle to the back to serve as another fuel tank, and had a smaller one-gallon bottle spare, taking his range (including the Jeep’s tank), up to roughly 210 miles (30 miles a gallon).

This meant that the route needed to be planned to perfection, and Ed made multiple mistakes on his first day, including a fuel spill, which meant he had to double back – twice – to a station to fill up.

But from then on, the road was smooth sailing. Well, actually, that was a lie. It wasn’t smooth, and the sailing would come later.

A bump in the road

Along the trip, which would last over a week, Ed’s problems only mounted. The halfway mark was met with a bomb-digging team, which forced Willy (the Mini Jeep) towards some uncomfortable roads.

Then, the Mini Jeep itself decided to blow.

Unfortunately, there was no saving the engine and the project would have to be halted.

It wouldn’t be the first car to perish in Utah Springs though, as even massive beasts like a Mercedes Sprinter have felt its wrath.

The show must go on

That was until four months later when Ed traveled back to the same GPS spot with his Mini Jeep and a new engine to resume the Utah trek. This time, it was in the snow.

After several hundred more miles, traversing through snowy mountains, the final hurdle was yet another lake.

But, we mentioned sailing…

The Mini Jeep was transformed into a boat, with a custom-built frame and two inflatables, the rather light truck swam a mile across this body of water to avoid a significant detour.

Somehow, this child’s toy pulled it off, and from there on, it really was smooth sailing.

1,000 miles later, the Mini Jeep pulled into the town of Moab and completed its incredible journey.

It must be something in the Utah air that makes cars do heroics, as we previously saw a Jeep Wrangler climb vertically up sandstone rocks in a monstrous challenge.

Still, the plucky little Mini Jeep was impressive and has since gone on to do even more incredible trips.