German Richard Hausmann could never have imagined how challenging a drive to his Beijing office could be.

He felt the breeze from Bavaria, soaked in the grand scenery of the Siberia Plains and ate the dust of the Gobi Dessert, all from behind the wheel of a humble little VW Beetle.

The 60-year-old car was part of a fleet of four classic vehicles, which traveled 11,000 km in the Erlangen-Beijing Vintage Volkswagen Challenge 2009.