Cheap Foreign Rally - One Way & Leave The Car

[MudPlugger]

From time to time I have seen various low-budget "rallies" of the "buy a car for £100 or less" type where the destination is, typically, somewhere in Africa. At the end the car is auctioned off, the money donated to local charities and the entrants fly back home leaving the cars with their new owners.

My much-loved, and extremely reliable, Fiat Marea has now failed its MoT and is currently up for sale on eBay - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am... - but (over a drink last night!) I started wondering if I should perhaps cancel the auction and use the car on a rally such as this. It's 11 years since I drove around Africa in my Land Rover and, bluntly, I'd love to go again

So, does anybody know the names / dates / websites / whatever of any suitable events that I could perhaps enter? Also, do I need to get tax & MoT again first?

=====

PS: If there's somewhere more appropriate on PH for this post, please tell me and I'll move it.

[crofty1984]

Google
the mongol rally
or streetsafari
home to rome
Banger rally

[Bugeyeandy]

Hate to say it but it sounds like your car wouldn't make it to the ferry let along the length of Africa.

Leave it on eBay and choose something sturdier for the rally.

[Simes205]

An old W123 Merc or Peugeot 505, probably get decent money for it when selling.

[MudPlugger]

crofty1984 said:

Google
the mongol rally
or streetsafari
home to rome
Banger rally

Cool, thanks for that, the Mongol Rally in particular looks like great fun

Realistically though, some of the links under banger rally would perhaps make a more sensible starting point, and of course I still need a road-legal car... Which rather excludes the possibility of using my old Fiat

I'm definitely going to explore this further though, so thanks.

[MudPlugger]

Bugeyeandy said:

Hate to say it but it sounds like your car wouldn't make it to the ferry let along the length of Africa.

Leave it on eBay and choose something sturdier for the rally.

That's a little harsh. With the exception of one small piece of welding around a suspension mount there's nothing structurally wrong, the rest is merely tired and/or loose. I've driven Land Rovers on AWDC comp-safaris that have finished the day in a far worse state than that, and I certainly didn't always change the bushes between events either.

But yes, it does appear that something else is needed for the rally.

[MudPlugger]

Simes205 said:

An old W123 Merc or Peugeot 505, probably get decent money for it when selling.

Both good suggestions, although from reading the Mongol Rally page - http://mongolrally.theadventurists.com/index.php?p... - it seems that both are definitively excluded too as they are both too old and too big.

[Thurbs]

MudPlugger said:

Simes205 said:

An old W123 Merc or Peugeot 505, probably get decent money for it when selling.

Both good suggestions, although from reading the Mongol Rally page - http://mongolrally.theadventurists.com/index.php?p... - it seems that both are definitively excluded too as they are both too old and too big.

Or go with a real charity who's only concern is exactly that: charity and not profits. http://mongolia.charityrallies.org/

I'm doing this in a few months on a bike: http://roofoftheworld.charityrallies.org/ should be fun!

[zac510]

I believe the rallies through Mali and Senegal have been cancelled due to having to pass through Western Sahara and Mauritania. We did one of these rallies because the car restrictions weren't so extreme.

But you need an MOT to get it out of the country. Unless you can trailer it to the car ferry, or book an MOT at Dover

[Bugeyeandy]

MudPlugger said:

Bugeyeandy said:

Hate to say it but it sounds like your car wouldn't make it to the ferry let along the length of Africa.

Leave it on eBay and choose something sturdier for the rally.

That's a little harsh. With the exception of one small piece of welding around a suspension mount there's nothing structurally wrong, the rest is merely tired and/or loose. I've driven Land Rovers on AWDC comp-safaris that have finished the day in a far worse state than that, and I certainly didn't always change the bushes between events either.

But yes, it does appear that something else is needed for the rally.

Sorry to deride your pride and joy didn't mean to offend. There is however a massive difference between even the most clapped out Land Rover and a dodgy Fiat (I should know having owned a couple of Fiats and a Lancia )

I suppose it depends on the roads on the way, if they're all tarmac or gravel then the Marea would probably do ok.

[MudPlugger]

Thurbs said:

MudPlugger said:

Simes205 said:

An old W123 Merc or Peugeot 505, probably get decent money for it when selling.

Both good suggestions, although from reading the Mongol Rally page - http://mongolrally.theadventurists.com/index.php?p... - it seems that both are definitively excluded too as they are both too old and too big.

Or go with a real charity who's only concern is exactly that: charity and not profits. http://mongolia.charityrallies.org/

I'm doing this in a few months on a bike: http://roofoftheworld.charityrallies.org/ should be fun!

I've taken a look at the website - looks like fun.

I especially like the team that's getting sponsorship to buy an ambulance and then leave it out there; there's an old Land Rover fire-truck on eBay at present (and little doubt others available much cheaper).

What bike are you taking?

[MudPlugger]

zac510 said:

But you need an MOT to get it out of the country. Unless you can trailer it to the car ferry, or book an MOT at Dover

Good thought, it's only 100 miles or so but wouldn't I also need an MoT to drive across France etc?

The detail that I have cashed in the tax disc may not help either

Edited by MudPlugger on Monday 17th May 12:21

[MudPlugger]

Bugeyeandy said:

Sorry to deride your pride and joy didn't mean to offend. There is however a massive difference between even the most clapped out Land Rover and a dodgy Fiat (I should know having owned a couple of Fiats and a Lancia )

I suppose it depends on the roads on the way, if they're all tarmac or gravel then the Marea would probably do ok.

Pride and joy may be stretching it, I'm more likely to apply that term to my Elise or similar, but I've driven a fair bit in Russia as well as Africa, so have a reasonable idea what to expect terrain-wise. Like you I've had a couple of Lancias in the past as well as several Land Rovers, so know their strengths and weaknesses.

What sidelined my 1994 Discovery when I was out in Africa was an assembly fault (not mine I hasten to add!) wherein the oil/dust seals on the rear axle had been fitted back-to-front, meaning that the dust kicked up by the front wheels was allowed in and then prevented from escaping. The result was grinding paste in the rear wheel bearings, inevitably leading to their failure.

Which - to my mind - merely goes to show that even a supposedly tough vehicle can be halted by a minor detail and it's not always what you may have anticipated...