Pimp my ride bro

It's handy when your brother is a professional sign writer especially when you need to turn a very ordinary looking family saloon into a red hot rally car.   When I first asked Harvey if he would help out I wasn't expecting too much, maybe a bit of lettering and a number or two.

However, when Nigel, Kev and I took the car over to him, Harvey had been busy and had already created an amazing design that really captured the spirit of the Scally Rally, but also met our objective of recognising all the local businesses that had helped us out getting the car on the road.

The key question was, would the design he had created look as good on the car as it did on his computer? We didn't need to wait long to find out, the result is awesome.  We absolutely love it.  In fact Nigel has become significantly, almost romantically, attached to the car to the point whereby he is seriously considering driving her back from Rimini.

We're currently in the process of showcasing the car at various locations and events in and around Norwich.  Kev had her outside the Aviva offices last week and I have her parked in pole position outside Virgin Money this week.   The comments and feedback we have received have been really positive and everyone loves the look of the car. 

However, more importantly it's really working well in terms of promoting the main reason for this whole adventure which is to raise funds for The Sick Children's Trust. 

We have already raised over £1,300 and over the next few weeks we have a few more show case events planned including a golf day, a good friends 50th birthday and a quiz night, so hopefully by the time we set off we will have smashed through our original target of £1,500.

A car is born

And here she is, our little beauty, the car that is going to take us from Calais to Rimini, via the Alps and the Dolomites, hopefully in one piece.  Born on 12 Jan 1998, she is a Ford Mondeo 2.0 16v GLX Zetec with less than 120,000 on the clock.

The body work isn't too bad, she has a couple of beauty spots here and there but overall we can't complain.  Nigel has done a great job getting her MOT'd, new tyres, washed and valeted all done free of charge thanks to the generosity of our sponsors.

Here she is looking hot stuff, the electric windows and tilt or slide sunroof clearly visible.  Those wheel trims will be sorted out in no time.

The boys at the hand car wash did an amazing job with the interior, it looks virtually brand new.  She has a full on board entertainment system, including multi-band radio and audio cassette player.

Unfortunately, aircon wasn't standard until Feb 1998, however don't forget that sunroof.

And how about that for an engine.  There is no way on this earth that this piece of mechnical mastery is going to cause us any problems.

And at 40mpg, by my calculation we will only need about 29 gallons of fuel to get us there, that's approximately £150.  There is no cheaper or better way to travel surely!


The Ford Mondeo is a truly remarkable car and we are privileged and honoured to be able to pilot her.  It's an award winning car, oh yes

• 1994 European Car of the Year
• 1997 Top 10 in the most reliable cars made in Britain.
• 1998 Best selling family car in the UK. 
• 1999 Car of the Year for Reliability. 
• 2001 Car Of The Year for performance and reliability. 
• 2002 Ghia X and ST, awarded for best Prestige Family Cars In Europe. 
• 2005 Award for 'excellent' by NCAP, crash test.

The next step is to get her taxed and then its over to Apex Signs, a.k.a my brother Harvey, who is going to help us turn her into a rally car worthy of participating in such an auspicious event as the Scally Rally Europe.

How we got here

During a drunken night in round Nigel and Karens last December, Deathy (Nigel Death), Big Kev (Kevin Blazer), Guz (Paul Guzewich) and I (Jem Walters) were discussing our options for a boys weekend away this year.

Earlier Kev had mentioned that he also wanted to do a charity fundraising event again this year after his very successful 40th birthday golf day in September.  I mentioned that a bloke from work had driven to the Arctic Circle in an old car in something called the Scally Rally and managed to raise a few quid for charity at the same time.

Light bulb moment - we could combine a boys weekend away and raise money for charity - brilliant idea.

On further investigation, mainly by Kev on his iPhone while we cracked into a few more drinks we managed to find out that there were four Scally Rally's in 2010.  None of us really fancied the Arctic Circle but Rimini in Northern Italy sounded just the ticket.

After some impressive smoozing (and promises of great riches) with the other halves, by the end of the night we had our plan and by the next morning Kev had registered us and so it began. Within a few days the flights were booked and that was about it until recently.

Over the past few weeks things have started to come together mainly thanks to the efforts of Kev and Nigel to be fair.

1. We have a car (more on that later when I have some pictures), kindly donated by Hainford Hall Motor Salvage (http://www.hainfordhall.co.uk).
2. We have a promise of £100 worth of parts and servicing, kindly donated by Gladwins Body Repair Centres (http://www.gladwins.com).
3. The car is being MOT'd by a mate of Nigels.
4. Kev has secured some insurance and roadside assistance from Aviva.
5. The fundraising page is up and running - http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ScallyRally777. 
6. Kev has also blagged a free ferry crossing.

So starting from a drunk big talk night last December we are now well on our way and over the next few weeks we'll start refining the details and raising as much money as we can for The Sick Childrens Trust.

Next update I provide a detailed profile of the car.