Above: The Crapheap Challenge 2008 participants pictured at the Calais Cruise on the last day of the trip before driving down the road to Dunkerque. This is where we caught the ferry home. 10th August, 2008.
The Crapheap Challenge 2009...
Is an idea shared by friends with the intention of raising money and awareness for Taking Steps, the official charity for Georigia Head, a local girl who suffers from Cerebral Palsy. Georgia has to travel to Germany to receive specialist Physiotherapy treatment and this whole process is incredibly expensive! Georgia and her family are local to us in the Bentley/Alton (Surrey) area and so this is why we want to raise as much money as possible - allowing Georgia's dream of learning to walk to come true!
Take a few minutes to view the Facebook page that has been setup for Georgia - Click here!
The challenge is to be completed in cars costing no more than £300 - £200 down on budget from last year - covering approximately 3000 miles to Barcelona and back (via Paris and the Pyrenees Mountains) in August 2009. It is being undertaken by up to 30 friends (numbers tbc), 10 cars (tbc) over 15 days, raising as much money as possible for this brilliant cause, as well as having a great time in the company of good friends! Part of the challenge, also, is to keep the cars going for as long as possible!
All the cars participating will have to have an MOT and TAX as part of the purchasing cost, or if the car is purchased and needs an MOT and/or TAX, the overal cost cannot exceed £300!
The Route...
Beginning in the early hours of the 1st August 2009, we will depart from the sending-off party being held at the Jolly Farmer (Blacknest, Surrey) and convoy down to Dover. We'll then board the Norfolk Line ferry over to Dunkerque. Apon arrival we'll head on down towards Paris city centre, where we'll be stopping for the night. The next day will see the cars maneuver Paris at rush hour - this should be a challenge itself! We will then proceed further south and over into Spain where we'll stop at our destination of Barcelona. We'll be staying in the Peneda de Mar area for 7 nights whilst partying and driving out to other destinations during the day!
After our 7 night stay here, we'll travel back up through France to Dunkerque, stopping at Calais on the way. By this time it will be the 15th August and it will be time to get the ferry back over to Dover.
The Cars, The People...
As mentioned, all cars this year can cost no more than £300 and that includes the car having an MOT certificate and TAX. Below is a list of all the drivers and the cars that they have purchased for the trip!...
Click the photo above to go large!
Phill: BMW 525i 2.5ltr 24v
Phill is the primary organiser for the trip. His chosen steed for this year's trip is this BMW 525i. Phill has recently taken a great interest in the art of Drifting and constantly attends different events that are organised for people to come and practice around numerous courses in a controlled environment. The car has also been lowered and completely stripped of its interior apart from the front seats and 3/4 of it's dashboard!
Cost: £10 - The car came with a rare steering wheel which somebody REALLY wanted!
Click the photo above to go large!
Nelly: Ford 'Grandad' Granada 2.9ltr V6
Nelly is secondary organiser and following on from the lovely, immaculate Ford Sierra he had for last year's trip, he decided to stay with Ford and went for this whale of a Ford Granada! It's literally a small house on wheels! Apparently when the V6 models came out, 5-speed manual transmission was a rarity, so Nelly has got his hands on a pretty rare whale, its even the right colour!
Cost: £240 - Money kindly donated by Mark Head, Georgia's Dad. You have no idea how much trouble we had taxing this car - we got a lot of exercise through doing it, though!
Click the photo above to go large!
Jonny: Volvo 740 2.3ltr & THE best number plate!
Jonny is the official cameraman and webmaster for the Crapheap Challenge. He initially purchased this Volvo 740 Estate in February 2008 for last year's trip, but it turned out to be so reliable and a fantastic tracking/filming car that it's pretty much here to stay! Since studying the Gumball 3000, Jonny has also developed an utter fascination for Alex Roy's 'Team Polizei 144' - the art of tarting a roadtrip car up as numerous different foreign Police interceptor vehicles. The idea spanned from The Cannondall Run film where the Ambulance & Paramedics were the disguise! So, with Volvo being Swedish, Jonny's car is stickered up as some kind of Swedish Motorway Interceptor... of sorts! This is purely for fun and we're hoping the car will get lots of attention so we can spread the word further about the trip!
Cost: £200... Plus some-hundred in running repairs along the way!
Click the photo above to go large!
Matt: Audi 100, 2.3ltr 5cyl
Matt returns for another year on Crapheap Challenge! He initially purchased a 3ltr Vauxhal Omega for this year's trip, but due to a blowing exhaust manifold and the amount of money it would cost to fit a new one (the part itself was very cheap), Matt decided to sell the Omega on and purchased this bright red Audi 100! Really comfortable and has a 2.3ltr 5cyl engine.
Bex & Neill: Vauxhall Cavalier 2ltr GLi
Bex is Phill's big sister, Neill is Bex's boyfriend! They managed to get hold of an F reg Vauxhall Cavalier in pretty good condition for £100! Photo(s) to come, but its gold and should make the journey down to Barcelona and back no problem at all!
Stay tuned for further updates on any cars that are added to this year's fleet!
