Safari

Safari (pronounced suh-fahr-ee)

(1) A journey or expedition, for hunting, exploration, or investigation, historically applied especially to expeditions in eastern Africa.

(2) The hunters, guides, vehicles, equipment, etc, forming such an expedition.

(3) Used loosely (sometimes very loosely), any long or adventurous journey or expedition (although usually restricted to non-developed, hot places with abundant wildlife).

(4) To go on a safari; to take part in a safari.

(5) In fashion, as “safari suit”, a men’s outfit of dubious appeal.

1890: From the Swahili safari (journey), from the Arabic سَفَر‎ (safar) (referring to a journey) from safara (to travel) & safarīya (travelling).  Etymologists belief the word “safari” was absorbed into English in 1890, having been documented since 1860s as a foreign word in the sense of “an expedition over country in East Africa lasting days or weeks, particularly for purposes of hunting”.  The Swahili safar (journey) first appeared in English publications in 1858.  From the 1920s, as an adjective “safari” was applied liberally to devices & appliances used on or associated with safaris (safari knife, safari park, safari trailer, safari map et al) but ultimately most influential was the safari jacket, a practical garment (robustly tailored with lots of pockets) which unfortunately would in the 1960s be picked up by the industry as the “safari suit”, perhaps the most derided piece of men’s fashion in the 1970s which, given what that decade produced, was quite an achievement.  The nouns safarier, safarigoer & safariman (all descriptors of “those who go on a safari) seem to have gone extinct but surfari (surfers travelling from beach to beach in search of the best waves) is still sometimes heard though “whale-watching” seems to have replaced “whale safari”.  Safari is a noun, verb & adjective, safaried & safariing are verbs; the noun plural is safaris.

Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC 5.0s, Safari Rally, Kenya, 1979 and Lindsay Lohan on safari, meeting zebras, Mauritius, June 2016.

The big 450 SLC 5.0 was one of the more improbable rally cars but it enjoyed some success in long-distance events and is a footnote in the sport's history as the only V8-powered car to win a European rally; all 450 SLC 5.0s were fitted with an automatic transmission which makes the thing more unusual still.  In motorsport, the annual rally in Kenya was between 1953-1959 known as the “Coronation Safari Rally” and between then and 1974 as the “East African Safari”; subsequently, it was variations of "Safari Rally".  The name “East African Safari Rally” was revived in 2003 as an event for historic rally cars and run biannually (COVID-19 the only interruption, the 2020 event cancelled).

Safari Station Wagons

Chrysler South Africa's advertising for the Valiant Safaris, 1972.

Instead of the 245 (4.0) & 265 (4.3) "Hemi" sixes, the South African cars were fitted with the old 225 (3.6) "slant-six" so the Apartheid-era government's local content rules could be met.  There was no V8 option but to compensate there was the Safari Premium with the US-flavored appliqué (imitation wood) glued to the sides, something not seen in other places.  Somewhat opportunistically, the advertising copy referred to the "Chrysler Charger engine" but technically that was correct, the 225 being for years on the Dodge Charger's option list and in South Africa Safaris used a two-barrel caburetor version rated at 160 horsepower rather than the usual 145 so the wagons were more powerful than the few US coupes with the slant-six.  

Chrysler's UK advertising for the Australian Valiants, the various Safaris & Station Wagons there described with the familiar "Estate".

Autocar Magazine, 18 October, 1966 (left) and the 1974 brochure (right) using images from a photoshoot conducted in the grounds of Windsor Castle.  In 1966, UK prices for the colonial imports ranged between Stg£1795-Stg£2545 and when Motor Magazine in 1966 tested a six-cylinder estate, it was noted the tag of Stg£1945 was about the same of that for a Jaguar 420, the two otherwise having little in common except fuel consumption.  It's not known if the advertising agency ever was tempted to all the things "shooting brakes" a term which had come to be more loosely applied.  

In Australia, during the 1960s and much of the 1970s, Chrysler’s mainstream model was the Valiant (1962-1981), based on the US A-Body (compact) corporate platform.  In 1963 a station wagon (dubbed "Safari) was added to the AP5 range, the name retained in export markets including New Zealand, South Africa and the Pacific.  In New Zealand, the nomenclature rarely changed but the utility models sold there and in the home market as the “Wayfarer”, when exported to South Africa, were badged as “Rustlers”.  After 1973, for Australia & New Zealand the Safari name was dropped in favor of "station wagon" which, although unimaginative, was at least an industry-standard which had been adopted even by Holden which had by then abandoned the curious use of "station sedan".  The notion of a "Safari" must have been judged too exotic for the UK (although some Citroëns station wagons were sold there with the label applied) and the Valiants sold there were, reassuring, named "Estate".  The appearance of a machine like the Valiant (with engines as large as a 5.9 litre (360 cubic inch) V8) in the UK market probably seems curious given that although a “compact” in US terms, it was by European standards unfashionably large but Chrysler, having in 1967 ceased production of the antiquated Humber Super Snipes upon their absorption of the Rootes Group, wanted to plug the gap in their range.  Even by 1967 that gap probably no longer existed and demand, never high, dwindled sharply after 1973, a consequence of (1) the first oil shock and (2) the UK joining the EEC (European Economic Community) which meant the end of the Commonwealth preference scheme, a low tariff regime which was the last relic of the chimera of imperial free trade.  Still, although promotion was only ever half-hearted, the Australian Chryslers could be ordered until 1976.  Ford Australia too flirted with the UK market, arriving also in the mid 1960s but found little more success in convincing the British their six and eight cylinder Falcons, Fairlanes & LTDs made sense on UK roads, the last sold in 1984 after several dismal years.

Safari Seats

Mercedes-Benz 220 SE Coupé (foreground) & cabriolet (background) with standard rear bench seats, Frankfurt, September 1961 (left) & 1965 220 SE coupé with safari seat option (right).

One rarely specified option on the Mercedes-Benz W111 (1961-1971; 220 SE, 250 SE, 280 SE & 280 SE 3.5) & W112 (1962-1967; 300 SE) coupés and cabriolets was the fitting of two individual (bucket) seats in the rear instead of the usual bench.  While not uncommon in the early days of the industry, separate seats in a car’s rear compartment had, by the time the W111 coupé was first displayed at the opening of the Daimler Benz Museum in Stuttgart in February 1961, become rare and but for a few one-offs by coach-builders, the option was unique.  The factory called them “safari seats”, the source of that being a special metal frame which allowed them to be removed and placed on the ground outside, the implication presumably this would be handy for those on safari who wished to sit under a shady tree and watch the zebras.  Whether many of these machines were taken on safari isn’t known but the concept was transferrable to those going on picnics or watching the polo.  On both sides of the Atlantic, the fitting of individual rear-seats caught on for some high-end models but other than in some utility vehicles intended mostly for off-road use, no manufacturer made them removable, although in the 1966 Dodge Charger they could be folded to create additional storage space, a feature appreciated by Allison Parks (1943-2010) who was awarded a pink one for being Playboy magazine's 1966 PotY (Playmate of the Year); Ms Parks used it to take her children to swimming practice so the space was handy.

The Safari Suit

Great moments in the history of the safari suit.  Charles III (b 1948; King of the United Kingdom since 2022) & Diana, Princess of Wales (1961-1997) visiting Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock) in Australia's Northern Territory, 1983 (left) and Kim Jong-il (Kim II, 1941-2011; Dear Leader of DPRK (North Korea) 1994-2011) (right).  Despite decades of debate, fashionistas have never agreed who wore it best.

The “safari jacket” was a name applied to a style of clothing which evolved to suit the demands of travel in the sort of places which had become associated with “going on safari”.  The jackets were constructed with a robust material which was resistant to contact with the foliage likely to be encountered and they included fittings like multiple pockets and often some provision for carrying rifle bullets or shotgun shells in a manner which made them easily accessible.  On safari, that was fine but the fashion industry discovered them in the late 1960s and during the following decades actually persuaded some men that the “safari suit” was a good idea.  It was not and not only did it take an unconscionable time a-dying, in the twenty-first century there’s been the odd attempt at a revival.  Men should thus avoid the look but on women a safari suit can be quite alluring.