The luxury apartment on wheels that took 1930s explorer into the unknown heart of Africa
Jungle exploration can be a dirty old business, throwing up such trials as tropical diseases and insects the size of your hand.
So why not bring along a little piece of home? Come to think of it, why not take the whole thing?
This was the thinking of Commander Attilio Gatti, who journeyed deep into the unknown heart of Africa in a five-room 'deluxe apartment on wheels'.
Monster truck: The Jungle Yacht, which was created for and used by Italian explorer Commander Attilio Gatti and his wife, on an expedition to the Congo
Known as the Jungle Yachts, his pair of custom-built trailers allowed the distinguished Italian explorer and his wife to travel in style, living like royalty in remote pockets of what was then the Belgian Congo.
As these pictures show, from the front they looked like your typical 1930s Cadillac or Buick, sleek lines flowing back from a gleaming grille.
Share this article
But tacked on behind the driver's cabins were rear ends of monstrous proportions - housing custom-built living areas comprising two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room.
Next to the Commander's desk, the 'observation-living room' held such essentials as a library and a bar.
Make yourself at home: The observation-living room, complete with the Commander's desk, a library and a bar
Leisurely: A manservant attends to the explorers as one thumbs through a magazine in the shelter of the two colossal Jungle Yachts
Two luxurious bedrooms came complete with soft electric lighting, while the bathroom was finished with a full-length bath and careful attention paid to interior design.
And a brochure published by International Trucks, who built the giant vehicles, boasts of an 'electric kitchen that would do justice to the Gatti penthouse on Park Avenue'.
It's clear to see Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky threw practicality out of the window when he drew up the so-called 'streamlined trailer units' for International.
Lap of luxury: Whereas others might rough it tents, this, one of Commander Gatti's two lavish bedrooms, featured its own telephone
An endorsement from Commander Gatti reads: 'On our automotive power hangs the success of our venture in the jungle trails and mountains of Africa.
'We had to have as power cars the very, very best on the market.'
The adventurer, author and film-maker is said to have rumbled along in the Jungle Yachts during his tenth expedition, in 1937-40, and again during his eleventh, in 1947.
He found fame thanks to his books and documentaries, fascinating western audiences with his accounts of the Pygmy peoples, tribal rituals and exotic species.
High life: A promotional poster for the Yachts shows the Gattis, inset, on their ninth expedition
Mobile home: An International Trucks brochure heralds the first journey of the five-room convoy
Most watched News videos
- Chilling moment man follows victim before assaulting her sexually
- Blind man captures moment Uber driver refuses him because of guide dog
- Met officer found guilty of assault for manhandling woman on bus
- Alleged airstrike hits a Russian tank causing massive explosion
- Father and daughter attacked by Palestine supporter at Belgian station
- Maths teacher given the nickname 'Bunda Becky' arrives at court
- Man grabs huge stick to try to fend off crooks stealing his car
- Suspected shoplifter dragged and kicked in Sainsbury's storeroom
- Elephant herd curls up in jungle for afternoon nap in India
- Pro-Palestinian protestors light off flares as they march in London
- Rep. Rich McCormick possibly caught touching Beth Van Duyne's arm!
- 'Predator' teacher Rebecca Joynes convicted of sex with schoolboys
