Exactly ten years ago an extraordinary round-theworld off-road event was launched in Bremen. On 8 March 2008 the first teams set off from HANSA-FLEX company HQ in six strikingly decorated Toyota Landcruisers on their initial unforgettable adventure.

Over the coming years the HANSA-FLEX XWORLD was to complete three major journeys covering a total of 58 countries on four continents. Overall a distance of more than 160,000 km was to be covered in a varied range of challenging stages.

The first XWORLD in 2008/2009 led through Europe and Asia. During the journey to the easternmost point of the tour – Chabarovsk in Russia – the countries which were crossed included Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia. One of the most moving moments was a visit to the village of Suak Nie in the province of Aceh on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.

Here HANSA-FLEX continues to the present day to support local people affected by the tsunami disaster. The highest point of the drive was reached in Tibet at 5,390 m. XWORLD South America in 2011/2012 saw the participants on the road in six VW Amaroks. They travelled through eight countries and, among other destinations, they visited the world’s southernmost point which is accessible by road (Tierra del Fuego at the end of Routa 3), and had to endure temperatures ranging from -12 °C in the mountains of Bolivia and +43 °C in Surinam.

However, two years later things were to get even 10 °C hotter. The top temperature at XWORLD Africa 2014/2015 was reached during the very first stage in Sudan. Overall the intercultural adventure journey took the participants with their six VW Amaroks