THE €900 CAR.

Its first owner bought it new in 1998. Years later, when poor eyesight kept him from renewing his license, the car ended up at a small used-car lot outside Barcelona. I was looking for anything under €1,000 that might survive a drive to the North Cape. Something about that Marea just felt right.

It started stalling almost as soon as I bought it. Then first and second gear disappeared. Four days later, with no real inspection and without even checking the oil, I left for Norway anyway. As far as I knew, the car’s story was supposed to end in Tromsø.

At first, I was going to scrap it. Then I decided to give it away because everyone following the trip had gotten attached to it. Nobody came to pick it up and, if I am being honest, I did not really want them to. I left it parked in Tromsø, went back to normal life, and returned two weeks later to drive it home.

After crossing Finland and taking the ferry to Estonia, I knew exactly what I wanted to do next: drive around the world in that car. The last recorded mileage, on 2 October 2026, is 334,867 km. It has crossed Europe, Asia, the Americas and now Australia. Same 1998 Fiat Marea. Same €900 car.