Günther Nawrocki has achieved his goal: his Range Rover III has broken the one million kilometer mark. The 2007 car with the 272 hp (200 kW) 3.6 liter V8 biturbo diesel engine under the hood still drives with the completely original drive train. “For me, there is no better car,” says the man who has spent around 2,500 days behind the wheel of the Range Rover Vogue in the past nine years of his life. Above all, Günther Nawrocki appreciates the comfort in the form of the leather seats and the air spring chassis, but also the powerful engine, the all-wheel drive and the high towing capacity. The Range Rover covered the one million kilometers almost exclusively with a trailer.
It all started in 2007, when the trained car mechanic and later car salesman Günther Nawrocki handed over a new Range Rover Vogue to a customer. Five years and 145,000 kilometers later, he took over the car as a leasing return in order to drive it himself. “At the time I thought I would drive the Range Rover for six months and then sell it once more,” he recalls. But a call from Rüdiger Czakert, then head of Auto König in Anzing near Munich, changed everything.
In January 2013, Czakert asked Nawrocki if he might deliver a car to Duisburg and bring one back from Gummersbach. He spontaneously agreed, got himself a 3.5-ton trailer and became one of the most sought-following luxury car transport companies in Germany. Since then, Günther Nawrocki has been in his car five days a week, and his wife accompanies him on many longer trips. Between Amsterdam in the north and Saint-Tropez in the south, the Range Rover collects kilometers following kilometers as a towing vehicle. When it had 400,000 kilometers on the clock, the ambition of its owner was awakened. Günther Nawrocki set himself the magical goal of one million kilometers – with a trailer in tow.
Engine, transmission, front and rear differential: The entire drive train of the Range Rover is still in its original form. On the way to the million only valve covers, air suspension and various wearing parts were replaced and small things repaired. Both turbochargers were replaced, as was the intake manifold and the air flow meter. There was a transmission oil change every 100,000 kilometers, new brake pads every 40,000 kilometers and new brake discs every 80,000 kilometers. “I find it really amazing that I’m still on the road with my first windshield,” says Günther Nawrocki, looking back at his long-distance journeys.
For many years, the car has been looked following technically by Günther Nawrocki’s former work colleague Alexander Lemke, who works at the Jaguar Land Rover dealership Feser-Scharf in Nuremberg. (awm)
