Pioneers: across the Gobi Desert in 1922

It's said that Roy Chapman Andrews was the inspiration for the Indiana Jones movies. He believed that Outer Mongolia was the source of prehistoric life, and in the early Twenties decided to explore it. In order to do this, he would need some vehicles. Deeming Fords to be too fragile, he instead approached the Dodge Brothers and asked to use a few of their trucks, in return for which they could use his endorsement in adverts.

Spying an opportunity, the brothers agreed and - in in April 1922 - Andrews set off through a gate in the Great Wall of China, headed for the Gobi desert. At the front of the pack were three Dodges - modified Series One Tourings, with 5.2-litre engines (good for 35bhp in those days) and rear-wheel-drive. They would become the first vehicles ever to cross the Gobi, racking up over 10,000 miles each in just a few months.

Behind them followed 125 camels, loaded with food, petrol, parts and a healthy supply of guns and ammo. Outer Mongolia was a risky place then, and Andrews knew a few grumpy camels wouldn't be enough to keep bandits away. So he went well-armed - mounting machine guns on the cars - and carrying a revolver under his hat.

The trip began well, but conditions were tough. One night, while camped on a mountain ridge, dozens of vipers slid into their tents - wriggling into shoes and sleeping bags - until the men sliced them up with shovels. On another occasion, Andrews came under attack from a group of horseman, whom he dispatched by driving directly at them while firing his weapon.

But within a few weeks, they'd found dinosaur eggs and the bones of a giant rhinoceros that last saw daylight in the ice age. The expeditions carried on through the 1920s, and Andrews continued to use Dodge cars. He even brokered a sponsorship deal with the company, which supplied him with five more modified Tourings in 1925 - fitted with extra-heavy springs, 21-gallon fuel tanks and heavy-duty hooks welded to the chassis for towing - and another in 1926.

The trips eventually stopped in 1930, when the Chinese accused Andrews of stealing national treasures. But despite the dodgy end Andrews became a hero to bone collectors everywhere, and was appointed head of the American Museum of Natural History where he once scrubbed the toilets.